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Five  X  Tiroes  x  Five  x  Points  x  of  x  Ghurcl]  x  Finance. 

P>y  H(.'v.  A.  T.  Kobeiisun.  A.  M.  Introduced  by  Rev.  Dr.  Herrick  Johnson.  For 
sale  at  Presbyterian.  Methodist,  BaptLst,  and  the  variotis  denominational,  and  other 
leading  book  stores.  Price,  75  cts.  Sent,  by  the  author  and  publisher,  postpaid,  to 
any  address,  at  the  followiui?  rates:  1  copy,  80  cts;  5  to  0,  (iO  cts.  each,  10  or  more,  .50 
<ts".  each.  Address,  Rev.  A.  T.  Robertson,  P.  0.  Box  641,  Lima,  0.  Specimen 
testimonials:— 'Treats  a  very  difiiciilt  and  most  important  subject  admirably,— 
handles  it  with  skill,  exhausts  it,  Chas.  A.  Dickey,  D.  D.,  P.  Calvary  Pres.  Ch.,  Phil. 
"It  is  worthy  of  the  widest  circulation  among  Christians  of  ev<!ry  name."  D.  B. 
Clieuey  D.D",  P.  1st  Baptist  Ch.,  Lima,  O.  "It  is  undoubtedly  destiued  for  a  very 
large  s'ale,  and  calculated  to  wield  great  influence,"  The  Christian  Hour.  ''Doubt- 
less will  be  of  pronounced  service,"  Chas.  S.  Pomery,  D  D.,  Cleveland,  O.  "Were  I 
pastor  of  a  church  I  should  order  a  large  number  of  copies."  Prof.  Jos.  Fells,  D.  I). 
L.  L.  D..  Lane  Seminary,  Cincinnati,  O.  "It  will  read  easily,  and  will  b(  -.'V  fl^c 
more  successful  because  of  the  dash  of  humor  it  contains,"  S.  F.  S»..o\ui,  i^.  x^.. 
President  of  the  Uni\iersitv  of  Woaster. 


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PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


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BV    770     .R64    1885 
Robertson,    A.    T. 


1863-1934 


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CHURCH  Finance 


EEV.  A.  T.  EOBERTSON,  A.  M., 

Pastor  of  the  Main  St.  Presbyterian  Church,  Lima,  Ohio, 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  THE 

REV.  HERRICK  JOHNSON,  D.  D.  LL.  D., 

Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest. 


CHICAGO: 

PUBLISHED  FOK  THE  AUTHOR  BY  THE 

WESTERN  PUBLISHING    HOUSE, 


OOPTRIGHTED  BY 

A.  T.  ROBERTSON. 

1885. 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Introduction,  by  Herrick  Johnson 5 

Author's  Preface 10 

CHAPTER  I. 
The   Subject   of    Church    Finance   Pecuharly   Im- 
portant To-day 12 

CHAPTER  II. 
Jesus  Watching  the  Treasury. __ _ 21 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Objects  for  Which  Money  Ought  to  be  Cast  into 
the  Treasury 26 

CHAPTER  IV. 
General  Unsatisfactory  Condition  of  Church  Finances    42 

CHAPTER  V. 
Causes  of  this  Unsatisfactory  Condition 46 

CHAPTER  VI. 
What  is  Needed  to  Better  this  Condition 52 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Who  Should  Give  ;  And  When  ;  or,  How  Frequently    76 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
The  Manner  of  Giving _._     82 

CHAPTER   IX. 
The  Measure  of  Giving 97 

CHAPTER  X. 

Robbing  God— Threatenings  Against— 1*^  Promises 
to  Those  Honoring  Him  with  Their  Substance  122 
(3) 


INTKODUCTION. 


This  book,  "Five  Times  Five  Points  of 
Church  Finance,"  is  inspired  by  a  desire  to 
lead  the  Church  to  honor  God  more  abundantly 
with  her  substance.  It  comes  from  the  busy 
hands  of  a  pastor,  who,  in  practical  contact 
with  the  work,  and  in  the  constant  prosecution 
of  local  and  missionary  effort,  has  been  led  to 
note  the  wide  lack  of  development  of  the  grace 
of  Christian  liberality,  and  to  put  to  effective 
use  the  available  means  for  the  development  of 
that  grace. 

Beyond  a  doubt,  there  is  no  more  practical 
question  before  the  Church  of  Christ  to-day 
than  this  question  of  systematic  benevolence. 
By  what  method  shall  the  means  for  the  prose- 
cution of  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ 
be  made  commensurate  with  the  present  splen- 
did opportunity?  To  answer  this  question 
superficially  will  be  to  leave  unhealed  the  hurt 
of  God's   people.     To   answer    it   widely    and 


6  Introduction. 

deeply,  is  to  go  to  the  very  roots  of  Christian 
life,  and  to  touch  the  very  heart  of  Christ's 
cross  and  passion. 

The  author  has  done  well  to  place  at  the  fore- 
front of  his  discussion  the  profoundly  impress- 
ive thought,  provocative  of  "  great  searchings 
of  heart,"  that  Jesus  Christ  still  sits  -'over 
against  the  treasury."  Just  as  of  old.  he  notes 
the  giver;  just  as  of  old  he  notes  the  gift; 
and  just  as  of  old,  the  qualify  of  the 
giver  determines  the  quaniity  of  the  gift. 
"  More  than  they  all "  came  not  from  bulk  of 
substance,  but  from  spirit  of  self-denial;  and 
the  lesson  is,  if  we  would  give  in  a  Christ-like 
way,  and  to  win  Christ's  commendation,  we 
must  get  bathed  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  his 
love  and  sacrifice.  'The  Church  will  only  go  to 
the  surface  of  this  matter  if  she  hear  only  of 
"system"  and  "proportion"  and  "tithe."  She 
must  be  led  to  linger  at  the  cross,  in  reverent 
and  teachable  contemplation  of  that  scene — not 
simply  as  a  matchless  miracle  of  mercy,  but  as 
the  supreme  insj^iration  to  CJiristian  giving. 
For,  right  in  tbe  midst  of  an  appeal  to  the  Co- 
rinthian Christians  to  abound  in  the  grace  of 


Introduction.  7 

liberality,  the  apostle  bids  tbem  consider  "  the 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  that  though  he  was 
rich,  yet,  for  their  sakes,  he  became  poor,  that 
they  through  his  poverty  might  be  rich;"  as  if 
here,  after  all,  were  the  motive,  the  spirit,  and 
the  test  of  all  true  giving;  and  the  measure, 
too.  "More  than  they  all,"  and  "she  hath 
done  what  she  could,"  will  never  be  won  from 
the  Lord  by  consulting  balances  in  the  ledger, 
and  giving  by  rule. 

Yet,  God  is  a  God  of  order,  and  God  has 
blessed  the  tithe,  and,  upon  proportionate  giv- 
ing, the  New  Testament  has  put  the  Divine 
seal:  "These  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not 
to  have  left  the  other  undone."  The  spirit 
that  would  give  everything  must  be  behind  the 
giving  by  system,  to  make  systematic  giving 
like  the  giving  of  the  King.  The  principle  of 
utility  may  be  falsely  applied,  and  care  for  the 
poor  may  be  a  Judas-care  after  all. 

"Five  Times  Five  Points  of  Church  Fi- 
nance" seeks  to  fix  also  the  responsibility  of 
the  giver  for  the  direction  and  infeUigence  of 
the  giving  as  well  as  for  the  amount  of  it. 
Here  we  have  an  admirable  presentation  of  the 


8  Introduction. 

nine  benevolent  Boards  or  agencies  of  the 
Churcli,  and  their  claims  upon  intelligent 
Christian  liberality.  The  author  goes  not  one 
whit  too  far  in  asserting  that  it  should  be  deemed 
the  duty,  as  it  unquestionably  is  the  privilege 
of  the  feeblest  Church  in  our  communion  to 
give  to  every  one  of  the  departments  of  Christ- 
ian benevolence.  The  unity  and  community  of 
these  nine  causes  is  too  often  lost  sight  of. 
They  are  the  respective  stones  in  the  arch  of 
our  benevolence,  arching  the  ministerial  life 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  They  are  ad- 
mirably fitted  to  each  other,  and  the  whole  arch 
of  our  benevolence,  arching  the  ministerial  life 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  They  are  admi- 
rably fitted  to  each  other,  and  the  whole  arch 
is  weakened  just  as  the  integrity  and  propor- 
tion of  any  individual  stone  in  it  are  impaired. 
The  Board  of  Aid  for  Colleges  and  Acade- 
mies makes  th"e  men  possible,  and  invites  and 
secures  them  for  ministerial  education;  the 
Board  of  Ministerial  Education  trains  these 
men;  the  Boards  of  Home  and  Foreign  and 
Freedmen's  Missions  locate  these  m6n,  provid- 
ing them  a  field  and  needed  support ;  the  Board 


Introduction,  9 

of  Church  Erection  houses  the  homeless  flocks ; 
the  Board  of  Publication  arms  and  equips; 
and  the  Board  of  Ministerial  Belief  cares  for 
the  scarred  veterans,  and  tenderly  ministers  to 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  heroes  of  the 
heavealy  commission  who  have  fallen  in  battle. 
"If  <~>ne  member  sniffers,  all  the  members  suffer 
with  it."  Intelligent,  comprehensive,  sustained, 
proportionate,  hearty,  Christ-like  giving  will 
heal  many  of  the  hurts  of  our  beloved  Zion, 
and  speed  the  triumphs  of  our  King.  The  pur- 
pose and  spirit  and  practical  suggestions  of  this 
little  book  will  help  the  development  of  such 
giving.  H.  J. 


AUTHOE'S  PEEFACE. 


The  author  of  this  volume  can  truthfully  say 
with  the  -  Bedford  Tinker," 

"When  at  the  first  I  took  my  pen  in  hand, 
Thus  for  to  write,  I  did  not  understand 
That  I  at  all  should  make  a  little  book."- 

A  few  months  ago  several  things  conspired 
to  lead  him  to  prepare  and  deliver  a  couple  of 
discourses  on  this  important  and  now  much 
agitated  subject  of  Church  Finance.  He  called 
attention  to  such  points  as,  in  his  judgment, 
needed  to  be  considered  these  times  by  congre- 
gations generally.  He  aimed  to  be,  not  only 
Scriptural  and  practical,  but  also  so  clear  and 
simple  that  even  the  common  people  might 
understand  him  easily,  even  if  they  should  not 
hear  so  gladly.  After  certain  persons  urged 
that  the  discourses  would  accomplish  good  in 
the  form  of  tracts,  or  a  book,  they  were  slightly 
revised,  and  enlarged  somewhat.  The  manu- 
script was  then  submitted  to  several  most  com- 
10 


Author's  Preface.  11 

petent  judges,  and  their  commendations  were 
so  hearty  that  it  was  concluded  to  give  it  this 
permanent  form  of  a  book.  It  is  now  sent 
forth  with  the  earnest  hope  and  prayer  that  the 
prophecies  of  the  reviewers,  in  some  measure 
at  least,  may  be  realized  when  they  predict 
that  it  will  do  much  towards,  "  creating  a  more 
thoughtful,  systematic,  and  sanctified  benevo- 
lence," and  "  stirring  up  the  people,  who  may 
read  it  to  do  their  whole  duty  in  regard  to  this 
matter." 

Lima,  Ohio,  Nov.  13,  1885. 


CHAPTEE  I. 


THE    SUBJECT    OF    CHURCH    FINANCE    PECULIARLY 
IMPORTANT    TO-DAY. 

A  very  interesting  article  recently  appeared 
in  the  Presbyterian  Home  Missionarij,  from 
the  keen  and  racy  pen  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  F.  L.  Patton,  in  which  attention 
was  called  to  the  fact — for  certainly  it  is 
a  fact — that,  "  corresponding  to  the  triple 
division  of  the  mental  powers  usually  adopted, 
there  are  three  types  of  religion."  Of  one 
type  the  chief  seat  is  the  intellect ;  its  possess- 
ors taking  pleasure  in  the  simple  knowledge  of 
religious  truths,  delighting  in  the  study  of 
theological  systems  wherein  those  truths  are 
logically  arranged,  explained,  and  vindicated. 
Of  another  type  the  chief  seat  is  the  emotional 
nature;  and  the  possessors  of  this  type  do  not 
particularly  appreciate  the  study  of  systema- 
tized truths  of  religion ;  they  may  not  be  able, 
very  logically,  to  defend  their  faith;  to  give  a 
12 


Importani  To-day.  13 

reason  therefor;  yet,  tliey  believe  most  in- 
tensely; they  feel  much.  And,  of  the  third 
type  the  chief  seat  is,  "not  the  intellect,  nor 
the  feelings,  but  the  will ;  the  symbol  of  which 
is  not  the  head,  nor  the  heart,  but  the  hand;" 
and  they  in  whom  this  type  of  religion  is 
found  do  not  care  so  much  about  simply  know- 
ing the  theological  truths,  and  do  not  make  so 
much  of  the  religious  feelings;  but  they  are 
pre-eminently  and  intensely  practical.  The 
principal  article  of  their  creed  is:  '' I  believe 
in  worky 

Now,  evidently,  the  perfect,  the  symmetrical 
Christian  is  "he  who  has  been  evenly  affected  in 
all  his  powers  and  faculties  by  the  religion  of 
Christ;"  for  "religion  is  not  all  head,  nor  all 
heart,  nor  all  hand."  And  yet,  one  or  other 
of  these  three  types  will  naturally  predominate, 
and  especially  will  be  needed,  during  different 
periods  of>^te?hurch's  history.  And,  the  third 
type  named,  whose  seat  is  the  will,  whose  sym- 
bol is  the  hand,  is,  truly,  "the  prevailing  one 
in  our  age ;  corresponds  to  the  prevailing  spirit 
of  our  times;"  and,  is  the  one  which  pre-emi- 
nently our  times  demand.      Dr.    Patton    well 


14  Church  Finance. 

says:  "There  were  ages  of  faith;  there  were 
times  when  men  thought  deeply,  if  they  did 
not  organize  for  aggressive  warfare  agairst 
evil.  Perhaps  the  piety  of  to-day  is  less  sub- 
jective, broods  less  over  sin,  lives  less  in  com- 
munion with  Jesus.  It  does  not  produce  books 
like  the  Summa  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  or  the 
De  Imiicdione  Christi  of  Thomas  a  Kempis ;  but, 
it  organizes  Mission  Boards,  it  grasps  the  prob- 
lem of  the  world's  conversion,  it  mobilizes  the 
great  army  of  Christian  believers  for  concerted 
and  persistent  attack  upon  the  strong-holds  of 
Satan."  *  And  quite  as  well  does  he  say:  "If 
our  age  is  to  win  any  place  in  history  worthy 
of  comparison  with  the  great  periods  of  relig- 
ious life  that  have  preceded  it,  it  must  be  as 
the  age  of  action — the  age  of  work." 

If,  then,  this  age  is  to  make  itself  conspic- 
uously the  age  of  action,  the  age  of  work,  if  it 
wins  any  renown  in  history  at  all — if  the  great 
mission  of  the  present  Church  is,  and  must  be, 
to  "  grasp  the  problem  of  the  world's  conver- 
sion," to  muster,  send  forth  and  sustain,  a  great 
"army  of  believers  to  attack  Satan's  strong- 
holds," and  to  hasten  the  time  when  Satan  and 


Important  To-day.  15 

his  hosts  shall  be  vanquished  and  all  "the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ" — what,  then, 
is,  and  must  be,  the  question  of  great  practical 
importance  to  the  Church  of  to-day?  What 
was  the  question  of  great  practical  importance 
to  our  government  during  the  late  civil  war? 
What  is  always  the  great  practical  question  for 
any  nation  when  great  armies  are  to  go  forth 
to  battle  ?  The  question  of  finance — the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  means  and  manner  of  supplying 
"  the  sinews  of  war ;"  the  question  of  procur- 
ing money  for  the  treasury  wherewith  to  equip 
and  support  the  soldiery ;  and,  that  is  the  great 
practical  question  for  the  Church  of  to-day, 
with  the  whole  world  an  open  battle  field-where- 
on a  Christian  soldiery  must  wage  a  spiritual 
warfare,  and  must  never  give  up  the  campaign, 
nor  call  a  halt,  as  long  as  any  people  refuse  to 
bow  the  knee  to  Christ — as  long  as  any  nation 
fails  to  hail  him  "King  of  kings,"  and  "crown 
him  Lord  of  all." 

If  the  second  type  of  religion — that  per- 
taining especially  to  the  feelings  or  heart — 
prevailed,  and  were  especially  needed  to-day, 


16  Church  Finance. 

in  that  case,  I  might  be  disposed  to  speak  on 
"  The  Religious  Affections,"  and  to  call  atten- 
tion  to  about  as  many  things  as  are  considered 
in  the  famous  treatise  by  Dr.  Jonathan 
Edwards.  If  the  first  type — that  whose  seat  is 
the  intellect — prevailed,  and  were  especially 
demanded  by  our  times,  in  that  case,  I  might 
be  inclined  to  undertake  the  task  of  outlining 
a  system  of  theology  in  which  all  the  points  of 
Calvinism,  especially  the  "  five,"  should  re- 
ceive attention.  But,  it  being  the  third  type — 
that  pertaining  to  the  will  and  the  hand — that 
now  prevails  and  is  especially  needed,  it  is  my 
purpose  to  consider  the  grea^-.  practical  ques- 
tion for  the  Church  of  this  active,  warfaring 
age — viz. :  the  financial  question,  to  which,  in 
our  day,  the  Church  must  give  special  atten- 
tion if  it  is  to  meet  its  obligations  and  per- 
form its  mission.     I  shall  speak  of 


'  It  is  not  proposed  to  bring  a  "  railing  accu- 
sation "  against  present  modes  of  church  finan- 
ciering ;  but  the  endeavor  shall  be,  by  speaking 
plainly,  and   "  according  to   the  book,"  to  ex- 


Imporiani  To-day.  17 

pose  what  is  really  blame -worthy,  and  make 
clear  the  more  excellent  way.  Of  some  of  the 
"pomts"  but  little  will  be  said;  others  will  be 
treated  at  greater  length;  but  none  of  them 
shall  be  fully  amplified.  At  his  leisure  the 
reader  may  think  of  them,  develop  and  apply 
them,  more  fully,  according  to  his  enjoyment 
or  need  of  the  same.  As  the  "  eighteen  upon 
whom  the  tower  of  Siloam  fell,  and  slew  them, 
were  not  sinners  above  all  that  dwelt  in  Jeru- 
salem," so  some  into  whose  hands  this  volume 
may  come,  may  not  especially  or  peculiarly  de- 
serve to  suffer  the  infliction  of  these  points;- 
and  yet,  perhaps  few,  if  any,  may  deserve 
wholly  to  escape;  doubtless  few,  if  any,  after 
considering  them  carefully,  will  be  able,  con- 
scientiously, to  say,  "  I  am  innocent,  and  have 
no  need  of  repentance;"  all,  no  doubt,  need, 
from  time  to  time,  to  have  their  "  pure  minds 
stirred  up  by  way  of  remembrance  of  these 
things,     though  they  know  them." 

And  here  we  wish  to  say:  Let  no   one  with 

superficial  views  of  this  financial  question  think 

that  in  placing  so  much  stress  upon  it,   we   are 

"of  the  earth  earthy,"  and  that  the  question  is 

2 


18  Church  Finance. 

not  vitally  related  to  pure  and  undefiled  religion. 
Let  no  one  say,  as  an  eminent  divine  did  re- 
cently say  in  disparagement  of  this  question  of 
finance,  or  giving,  "I  would  rather  quicken  the 
church's  spirituality,  and  broaden  its  thought." 
Such  talk,  no  difference  whence  it  comes,  is 
only  on  a  par  with  the  remark  of  "Mrs.  Puffy," 
of  the  story  lately  published  in  the  church  papers, 
"who  always  wanted  to  talk  so  pious,"  and  said 
to  the  sister  that  was  circulating  a  subscription 
paper  and  manifesting  zeal  in  raising  the  nec- 
essary funds  for  their  church  work,  "You  ought 
to  be  lookin'  after  the  sperretooalities,  and  get- 
tin'  down  before  the  Lord."  The  reply  of  the 
financiering  old  lady  was  very  good.  She  said, 
"I  guess  we  should  be  jest  as  spiritual  to  look 
into  our  pocket-books  a  little."  Those  with 
broader  and  deeper  views  of  this  financial  ques- 
tion, or  Christian  giving,  will  think  and  talk  of 
it  quite  differently  from  "Mrs.  Puffy,"  or  the 
good  divine  alluded  to  above.  For  example, 
"What  we  wait  for,"  said  Dr.  Bushnell  a  few 
years  ago,  "and  are  looking  hopefully  to  see,  is 
the  consecration  of  the  vast  money  power  of 
the  world  to  the  work  and  cause  and  kingdom 


Imporiant  To-day.  ■  19 

of  Jesus  Christ.  For  that  day,  when  it 
cotnes,  is  the  morning,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  new  creation.  And  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Wm.  M.  Taylor,  of  New  York,  after  quot- 
ing these  words  of  Bushnell,  well  says:  ''This 
witness  is  true,  and  it  becomes  us  all  to  pray 
and  labor  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy 
that  men  shall  come  'their  silver  and  their  gold, 
with  them,'  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God. 
But  the  revival  must  begin  in  the  church  itself. 
In  former  times  we  have  had  revivals  with  dis- 
tinct characteristics.  One  was  remarkable  for 
the  blessing  which  rested  on  preaching ;  another 
for  the  spirit  of  prayer  which  seemed  to  be 
poured  out  on  the  people  generally ;  another  for 
the  interest  that  was  evoked  in  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures.  What  we  have  yet  to 
see  is  a  revival  of  which  the  chief  distinguish- 
ing feature  shall  be  liberal  giving  to  the  cause 
of  the  Lord  Jesus;  and  when  that  comes,  it 
will  be  the  prophecy  of  yet  grander  things,  for 
the  promise.  Prove  me  now  herewith  if  I  will 
not  open  you  the  windows  of  heaven  and  pour 
you  out  a  blessing  that  there  shall  not  be  room 
enough  to  receive  it,'   was  made,  not  in  connec- 


20  Church  Finance. 

tion  with  an  exhortation  to  prayer,  as  so  many 
who  quote  it  seem  to  believe,  but  with  imme- 
diate reference  to  the  honoring  of  God  with 
our  substance;  for  thus  it  runs:  'Br big  ye 
all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse^  and  iwove  me 
now  herewith^  While,  therefore,  it  is  true  that 
a  spirit  of  liberality  in  the  support  of  the  cause 
of  Christ  must  be  a  fruit  of  renewed  life  in  the 
Church,  it  is  also  true  that  its  manifestation  by 
the  Charch  will  be  the  forerunner  of  such  spir- 
itual triumphs  as  it  has  never  yet  achieved. 
Thus  it  is  of  great  moment  that  we  should  use 
means  for  the  awakening  of  Christians  to  a 
sense  of  the  importance  of  this  matter." 


CHAPTEK   II 


JESUS  WATCHING  THE  TREASUKY. 


FIRST  POINT:— It  ought  never  to  be  forgotten,  that, 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church, 
watches  the  treasury,  and  observes  how  His  fol- 
lowers contribute  thereto. 

It  is  written:  "Jesus  sat  over  against  the 
treasury,  and  beheld  how  the  people  cast  money 
into  the  treasury ;"  and,  that  same  Jesus  seated 
now  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  in  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  with  his  ever  watchful  and 
omniscient  eye,  views  the  Church  treasuries 
every  where,  and  observes  how  the  people  cast 
money  therein.  Are  persons  who  give  nothing, 
or  little,  fearful  lest  men  note  the  fact  ?  Do  they 
complain  sometimes  that  the  Church  officers, 
and  others,  scrutinize  their  "subscription,"  or 
their  offering  as  they  cast  it  into  the  basket? 
Oh,  let  them  remember  that  Jesus  is  watching; 
and  let  them  care  rather  for  his  scrutiny;  but 
let  them  not  complain  about  it,  for,  as  the 
21 


22  Church  Finance. 

divinely  appointed  and  authoritative  Head  of  the 
Church,  he  has  perfect  right  to  watch  the 
treasury,  and  inspect  all  gifts  thereto.  Or,  are 
others  who  give,  and,  perchance,  liberally, 
afraid  that  men  may  not  observe  it,  or  give  a 
proper  credit  ?  Let  none  worry  about  that  matter 
of  so  little  consequence ;  for  Jesus  beholds,  and 
notes,  and  properly  credits  it  all.  He  under- 
stands just  who  gives,  and  how  much,  and  why 
they  give.  He  sees  the  donors,  he  weighs 
their  gifts,  he  knows  their  motive — whether  it 
be  to  glorify  God,  and  to  please  him,  or  to 
glorify  self,  to  be  seen  of  men,  and  to  receive 
praise  of  the  same.  A  very  solemn  thought 
should  this  be  to  every  Christian,  that  Jesus 
sits  over  against,  and  watches  the  treasury! 
The  eminent  writer,  from  whose  article  on 
"The  Three  Types  of  Keligion,"  quotations  have 
already  been  made,  speaks  pertinently  to  this 
point  which  we  are  now  considering,  when  he 
says:  "The  demand  is  made  for  a  religion  that 
is  readily  convertible ;  those  who  profess  to  be 
Christians  are  asked  to  show  some  quantitive 
equivalent  of  their  profession."  "The  religion 
that  does  not  show  itself  in  the  collection  plate 


Jesus  Watching  the  Treasury.  23 

is  not  well  thought  of."  No,  such  a  religion  is 
not  much  respected  by  men  to-day,  and  the 
time  never  was  when  men  looked  upon  it  with 
much  admiration.  And  every  Christian 
would  do  well  to  ponder  the  question,  whether 
such  a  religion  ever  has  been  or  ever  will  be 
"well  thought  of"  by  him  who  "sits  over 
against  the  treasury."  It  was  a  common  and 
happy  saying  of  Luther,  that  genuine  religion, 
true  and  thorough  conversion,  pertained  to 
"the  head,  the  heart,  and  the  pocket-book." 
The  saying  is  worthy  of  special  consideration 
in  this  age  of  such  large  financial  demands  upon 
and  by  the  Church.  Surely,  in  such  an  age  as 
this,  especially,  may  it  be  doubted,  whether  he 
who  ever  watches  the  treasury  will  be  pleased 
with,  or  will  own  as  genuine  and  thorough,  any 
person's  conversion,  or  religion,  whose  pocket- 
book  remains  unaffected,  closed — "sealed  with 
seven  seals,"  for,  the  pocket-books  of  some  pro- 
fessors do  remain  as  firmly  sealed  as  that  book 
which  John  saw.  That  the  conversion,  or  re- 
ligion, of  the  masses  of  the  Church  to-day  is 
defective,  in  not  reaching  and  opening  the 
pocket-book  sufficiently,  is  manifest  from  the 


24  Church  Finance. 

meagre  sums  of  money  cast  into  the  treasury. 
From  recent  statistics  it  is  seen  e.  g. ,  that,  for 
all  Church  and  benevolent  work,  the  average 
yearly  gift  of  the  membership  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  (North)  of  the  United  States  is 
only  about  fourteen  and  one-half  dollars.  And, 
the  average  gift  of  members  in  most  other 
Churches  is  much  smaller  still.  Why,  many 
of  the  members  give  much  more  than  this  for 
tobacco,  and  much  more  for^j^Sher  useless 
luxury, — not  to  say  abomination!  And,  com- 
pared with  the  liquor  bill  of  the  nation,  all  the 
money  given  to  the  Lord's  treasury  is  a  mere 
trifle, — "a  drop  in  the  bucket."  As  another 
once  said, when  speaking  of  this  small  average 
of  Church  and  benevolent  gift,  so  I  would  here 
say,  "We  are  not  croaking.  Aye  are  only 
looking  at  the  situation  as  it  is."  And  if,  count- 
ing the  great  gifts  which  a  few  wealthy  princes 
in  Israel  bestow,  and  those  given  by  certain  self- 
sacrificing  ones,  who  do  well  according  to  their 
ability,  if,  counting  all  these,  the  average  is  so 
small,  what,  indeed,  "must  be  the  essential  mean- 
ness and  selfishness  of  a  great  multitude,  whom 
we  are  obliged,  in  courtesy,  to  count,  when  num- 


Jesus  Watching  the  Treasury.  25 

bering  the  visible  Church  of  God!"  I  ask,  is 
not  this  "meanness"  offensive  to  the  Great  Head 
of  the  Church?  Must  he  not  now  be  dis- 
pleased when  he  beholds  "how  the  people  cast 
money  into  the  treasury?"  His  people  can  not 
now  say,  as  once  they  could,  "silver  and  gold 
have  I  none ;"  no,  to-day,  the  Church  is  rich  and 
increased  in  goods,  and  yet,  how  meagre  and 
trifling  the  usual  and  average  gifts.  Surely, 
"He  that  sits  over  against  the  treasury"  is 
grieved  at  heart. 


m 


CHAPTEE  ni. 


THE    OBJECTS  FOR    WHICH    MONEY    OUGHT    TO    BE 
CAST    INTO    THE    TREASURY. 


SECOND  POINT:— There  ought  to  he  a  sufficient 
amount  of  money  cast  into  every  church  treas- 
ury for  the  proper  support  of  the  Gospel  at 
home,  in  the  local  church. 

A  part  of  the  contents  of  all  "  converted 
pocket-books  "  ought  to  be  contributed  for  this 
purpose.  Whatever  is  needed  to  provide  a  suit- 
able house  of  worship  ought  to  be  given ;  also, 
whatever  amount  is  needed  for  meeting  all  in- 
cidental expenses  of  the  church  and  Sabbath- 
school.  And,  of  course,  all  congregations  ought 
to  cast  into  the  treasury  whatever  sum  is  re- 
quired for  a  just,  respectable,  and  ample  sup- 
port of  him  who  ministers  unto  them  in  spirit- 
ual thinars,  breaks  unto  them  the  "Bread  of 
Life."  "  How  much,  or  how  little,  can  you  live 
on?"  and,  "how  much,  or  how  little,  would 
you  die  on?"  ought  not  to  be  put  to  him. 
26 


Objects  of  Giving.  27 

Especially  the  amount  given  him  should  not  be 
so  evenly  balanced  between  the  two  require- 
ments, as  is  so  often  done,  that  he  can  neither 
live  decently  and  be  at  peace,  nor  die  quickly 
and  be  at  rest.  True,  in  the  Church's  infancy 
and  poverty,  Paul,  in  a  few  exceptional  cases, 
in  certain  heathen  communities,  labored  with 
his  own  hands  to  supply  his  wants,  and  preached 
the  Gospel  without  receiving  support  from 
those  to  whom  he  ministered.  But,  if  any 
churches,  or  communities,  to-day  are  disposed 
to  commend  to  their  pastors  this  example  of 
Paul,  would  they  submit  to  a  brief  catechetical 
exercise,  as  follows?  First  question:  Are  you 
a  poor  heathen?  Second  question:  Even  in 
those  special  cases  among  the  poor  heathen, 
did  not  Paul  afterward  intimate  that,  for  their 
own  good,  he  should  not  have  permitted  them 
to  neglect  his  support?  For,  did  he  not  write, 
"forgive  me  this  ivr 011  g  f  Third  question: 
Did  not  Paul  himself  recognize  the  reasonable, 
just,  and  scriptural  principle — which  his  Mas- 
ter had  emphasized  as  applying  directly  to  the 
ministry — that  "  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his 
hire?"     Did  he  not   say,  e.  g.:  "If  we  have 


28  Church  Finance. 

sown  unto  you  spiritual  things,  is  it  a  great 
thing  if  we  shall  reap  your  carnal  things?" 
Again,  "Do  ye  not  know  that  they  which  min- 
ister about  holy  things  live  of  the  things  of  the 
temple;  and  they  which  wait  at  the  altar  are 
partakers  with  the  altar?  Even  so  hath  the 
Lord  ordained  that  they  which  preach  the  Gos- 
pel should  live  of  the  Gospel."  Some,  it  seems, 
read  this,  "  should  live  on  the  Gospel."  But 
that  is  not  the  correct  reading.  The  Gospel  is 
the  best  of  spiritual  food,  but  it  is  not  sufficient 
for  the  physical  nature.  It  was  not  ordained 
that  they  who  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  on 
it  alone,  and  serve  the  churches  freely  without 
receiving  of  their  "  carnal  things."  By  God's 
appointment  much,  very  much,  is  given  to  his 
people  without  money  and  without  price;  but 
in  that  "much"  a  ministry  is  not  included. 
The  Gospel  itself  is  indeed  free,  but  being 
sent  to  the  churches  in  "earthen  vessels,"  it  is 
the  will  of  the  Lord  that,  for  the  use  of  these 
"vessels,"  the  churches  must  properly  pay. 

In  a  small  treatise  on  "The  Duties  of  the 
Church  member  to  the  Church,"  an  eminent 
pastor  uses  language  most  relevant  to  this  point, 


Objecfs  of  Giving.  29 

as  to  the  support  of  the  Gospel  or  the  ordi- 
nances in  the  home  church:  "The  support  o£ 
the  ordinances,"  he  says,  "has  been  distinctly 
enjoined  or  implied  under  all  dispensations  of 
religion.  *  *  *  The  subject  needs  to  be 
brought  before  those  who  connect  themselves 
with  a  congregation  of  God's  people;  for  there 
are  multitudes  who  seem  to  overlook  it  as  if 
they  had  nothing  to  do  with  bearing  the  ex- 
penses necessary  to  sustain  the  worship  of  the 
sanctuary — -an  oversight  which  surely  must 
arise  from  want  of  consideration.  When  it  is 
remembered  that  salaries,  fuel,  light,  repairs, 
insurance,  and  various  incidentals  have  all  to 
be  provided  for,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  whole 
amount  necessary  for  the  support  of  a  church 
is  not  small.  Every  comfort  should  be  pro- 
vided for  the  house  of  God,  so  that  it  may  not 
be  inferior  in  taste  and  attractions  to  the  aver- 
age of  the  residences  in  which  its  worshipers 
dwell.  Strangers  should  not  be  repelled  by  its 
neglected  appearance.  It  should  attract  by  the 
evidences  it  affords  that  it  is  cared  for.  Every 
one  should  consider  that  the  church  is  his  own 
Sabbath  home;     *     *     *     that  the  well-being 


30  Church  Finance. 

of  the  church  is  a  matter  of  vital  importance 
to  him  and  to  those  who  are  dear  to  him ;  and 
that,  consequently,  it  belongs  to  him  to  bear  a 
share  of  its  expenses.  *  *  *  The  resolution 
of  every  member  of  the  church  should  be  that 
of  King  David:  'Neither  will  I  offer  bui'nt 
offerings  unto  the  Lord  my  God  of  that  which 
cost  me  nothing.'" 


THIRD  POINT :-In  addition  to  contributing  for  the 
support  of  the  Gospel  in  their  individual  home 
churches,  all  congregations  ought  to  go  beyond 
that,  and  cast  money  into  the  treasury  also  for 
the  support  of  the  Gospel  abroad,  for  Benevo- 
lent and  Missionary  Work. 

More  or  less  is  always  needed  to  feed,  clothe, 
and  shelter  the  poor  and  needy.  Especially  is 
there  always  need — in  this  age  there  is  always 
most  urgent  need — of  funds  for  all  the  great 
benevolent  and  missionary  agencies,  or  Boards 
of  the  church;  and  in  all  these,  every  congre- 
gation should  be  interested,  and  to  all  they 
should  contribute.  "  Do  you  really  mean  every 
congregation,  even  the  weak  ones?"  does  some 
one  ask?  We  answer,  unhesitatingly,  "Yes." 
"Does  not  charity  begin  at  home?"  is  it  then 


Objects  of  Giving.  31 

said?  We  reply,  "Certainly;  but  it  merely 
begins  there."  The  "  charity  "  that  both  begins 
and  ends  at  home  is  of  a  very  poor  kind — in- 
deed it  is  not  charity  at  all.  Our  own  denomi- 
nation, the  Presbyterian,  has  now  nine  benevo- 
lent and  missionary  Boards  or  agencies — and 
most  other  great  denominations  have  substan- 
tially the  same — and  so  far  as  many  of  our 
weaker  churches  are  concerned,  viz. :  all  receiv- 
ing aid  from  the  "  Sustentation  "  fund,  they,  by 
requirement  of  the  General  Assembly,  neces- 
sarily pledge  themselves  to  contribute  some- 
thing every  year,  to  each  of  these  Boards  or 
agencies ;  and  for  these  churches  to  refuse  so 
to  do  after  taking  such  a  pledge,  is  simply  dis- 
honesty and  fraud;  and  for  the  larger  and 
stronger  churches,  through  whose  influence,  or 
at  least  by  whose  sanction,  in  the  Assembly, 
this  necessity  is  placed  upon  the  weaker  ones, 
for  the  stronger  not  to  do  what  they  compel  the 
weaker  ones  to  do,  is  shameful  and  outrageous. 
But,  if  there  were  no  constraint  or  compulsion 
placed  upon  any  churches,  yet,  each  one,  weak 
or  strong,  should  give  something,  even  accord- 
ing to   its    ability,  to    all    these    objects,    and 


32  Church  Finance. 

should  do  it  gladly.  Which  one  of  our  benev- 
olent and  missionary  agencies  is  unessential, 
unnecessary,  or  unworthy,  and  should  not  be 
supported?  Surely,  with  the  great  majority  of 
earth's  inhabitants  still  in  heathenish  darkness, 
and  with  the  Master's  last  command  ever  ring- 
ing in  our  ears:  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  none  dare 
slight  "Foreign  Missions."  And,  as  our  own 
land  is  a  part  of  the  world,  and  in  many  por- 
tions of  the  West  there  is  the  utterest  poverty 
and  spiritual  destitution,  while  farther  East 
many  feeble  folk  need  aid  in  supporting  the 
ordinances;  and  since  in  the  South,  the  six  or 
seven  millions  from  whom  the  shackles  of  slav- 
ery have  recently  fallen,  or  been  strickeai,  need 
to  be  made  free  with  that  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  maketh  his  people  free;  surely,  with 
these  wide-open  doors  among  our  own  country- 
men on  every  side,  neither  "Home  Missions," 
nor  "Sustentation,"  nor  the  "Freedmen's" 
cause  dare  be  neglected.  And,  then,  in  all 
those  destitute  communities  they  need  not  only 
the  Gospel  and  the  missionary,  but  need  as  well 
the    sanctuary   wherein   the    missionary    may 


Objects  of  Giving.  33 

gather  the  people  and  proclaim  the  glad  tidings. 
Hence,  the  cause  of  "  Church  Erection,"  also, 
is  of  the  utmost  importance.  Again,  in  view 
of  the  great  demand  and  need  of  a  thorough 
Christian  education — an  education  developing 
the  moral  and  religious  nature  as  well  as  the  intel- 
lect— for  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Church, 
especially  for  the  young  men  who  shall  have  to 
become  the  pastors  and  missionaries  of  the 
future  Church,  in  view  of  this  urgent  demand 
and  need,  the  church  must  esta-blish,  endow, 
and  equip  her  own  educational  institutions,  and 
must,  in  keeping  with  the  Divine  plan,  render 
aid  to  those  who  are  preparing  for  the  minis- 
terial office  and  need  such  aid.  In  other  words, 
the  "Board of  Aid  for  Academies  and  Colleges," 
and  that  of  "  Education  "  must  be  supported, 
or  the  Church  wdll  suffer  great  loss.  But,  if 
young  men,  during  their  preparatory  studies, 
are  to  be  aided;  and  if,  during  their  active 
ministerial  service,  they  are  to  receive  support, 
will  it  ever  do  for  the  Church  to  leave  them  or 
their  families  uncared  for,  when  they  have  worn 
themselves  out  in  the  service,  or  have  become 
disabled  by  disease?  No!  that  would  be  an 
3 


34  Church  Finance. 

everlasting  disgrace  to  the  Church.  A  humane 
person,  Christian  or  heathen,  will  not  turn  out, 
and  leave  unfed  and  un cared  for,  a  horse,  an 
ox,  or  an  ass,  that  has  been  worn  out  in  his 
service.  Dare,  then,  the  Church  neglect  her 
worn-out  veterans  or  their  families?  That  is 
to  say,  dare  the  "Board  of  Relief"  be  slighted 
as  unworthy  of  a  contribution  ?  Once  more,  in 
view  of  the  mighty  influence  of  the  press  of 
to-day,  since  it  is  used  so  largely  and  perni- 
ciously by  "  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil," 
must  not  the  Church,  by  all  means,  "lay  hands 
on  it,"  and  "ordain"  it  to  preach  the  Gospel? 
Does  it  not  behoove  the  Church  to  use  this 
mighty  agent  to  supply  a  literature,  pure  in 
character,  and  beneficial  in  influence  ?  In  other 
words,  dare  the  good  work  of  the  "Board  of 
Publication"  be  ignored  or  disparaged? 

No,  no ;  not  one  of  these  nine  agencies  should 
fail  to  receive  the  support  of  every  congrega- 
tion; they  are  all  needed  in  our  Zion,  and  are 
very  important  factors  in  the  great  enterprise  of 
lengthening  her  cords  and  strengthening  her 
stakes.  As  was  written  in  the  Princeton  Ee- 
view  a  few  years  ago,   "  In  order  that  the  great 


Objects  of  Giving.  35 

work  of  enlarging  Christ's  kingdom  may  be 
done  in  the  most  rapid  and  effectual  manner, 
the  Church  has  divided  its  great  work  and  field 
into  these  different  departments,  and  committed 
each  to  a  body  of  its  most  trusted  servants. 
Its  Boards  are  its  towers  of  strength.  Im- 
portant and  valuable  results  have  proved  them 
to  be  agencies  for  well-directed  Christian  ef- 
fort, unsurpassed  in  the  history  of  any  branch 
of  the  church  of  Christ."  Such  is  to-day,  and 
ever  has  been,  the  testimony  of  the  best  in- 
formed and  most  competent  witnesses,  as  to  the 
character  and  efficiency  of  these  agencies,  and 
the  men  in  charge  of  them.  The  management 
and  workings  of  all  these  agencies  are  care- 
fully scrutinized  every  year  by  our  highest 
church  court,  the  General  Assembly ;  and,  if  at 
any  time  any  change  of  management  or  work 
is  deemed  advisable,  the  order  is  given,  and 
the  thing  is  done.  So  that  continually  all  the 
Boards  prosecute  their  business  according  to 
the  judgment  and  wishes  of  the  church  at 
large,  whose  agents  they  are.  If,  sometimes, 
they  be  criticised  adversely,  let  it  not  be 
wondered  at ;  for,  it  is  so  easy  to  find  fault,  and 


36  Church  Finance. 

so  natural  and  so  enjoyable  to  some  minds. 
Lack  of  information,  however,  on  the  part  of 
the  critic  is  generally  the  cause  of  these  com- 
plaints. To  illustrate:  A  complaining  brother 
recently  wrote  to  one  of  the  church  papers, 
urging  that  the  "Board  of  Publication"  ought 
to  issue  a  "Child's  Catechism" — that  such  a 
catechism,  more  simple  than  that  of  the  West- 
minster divines,  would  be  an  excellent  thing, 
and  ought  not  to  be  neglected  any  longer. 
But,  had  he  been  informed,  he  would  have 
known  that  the  Board  has  been  issuing  exactly 
such  a  catechism  for  years,  and  up  to  the  date 
of  his  complaint,  had  sold,  or  given  away,  just 
two  million,  two  hundred  and  ninety  thousand 
copies  of  the  same!  Again,  at  the  last  meeting 
of  the  General  Assembly,  an  overture  came  from 
a  Presbytery  urging  that  the  Publication  Board 
ought  to  require  its  colporteurs  to  make  regu- 
lar reports,  so  and  so.  But,  had  the  Presby- 
tery, or  any  of  its  members,  been  acquainted 
with  the  rules  and  regulations  of  this  Board, 
they  would  have  known  that  its  colporteurs 
always  have  made  just  such  reports! 

The  following,  from   a  recent  issue  of    the 


Objects  of  Giving.  37 

St.  Louis  Evangelist,  is  admirable,  and  worthy 
of  notice  in  this  connection:  '•  When  contri- 
butions are  asked  for  the  benevolent  work  of 
the  Church,  the  stale  accusation  is  still  occa- 
sionally heard,  and  from  professors  of  religion, 
that  the  funds  are  not  faithfully  handled,  but  are 
largely  absorbed  by  agents,  secretaries,  treas- 
urers, etc.  This  kind  of  talk  ought  not  to  be 
indulged  in  by  any  one  with  a  conscience;  for, 

1.  Those  who  throw  out  such  hints  do  not 
know,  and  therefore  they  fly  in  the  face  of  that 
charity  which  thinketh  no  evil. 

2.  When  the  facts  are  looked  into,  these 
charges  are  seen  to  be  unfounded,  and  so  they 
are  no  less  than  calumnious. 

3.  When  church  members  are  guilty  of  ut- 
tering such  charges  they  simply  join  in  the 
reckless  hue  and  cry  of  the  world  and  the  devil, 
and  probably  with  the  same  temper. 

4.  Even  if  there  were  some  truth  in  what  is 
thus  said — a  violent  supposition — the  only  ef- 
fect of  saying  it  is  to  dry  up  the  charities  of 
those  who  give,  and  to  diminish  the  actual  work 
of  benevolence  among  the  needy  and  suffering. 

5.  Allowing  the  supposition  that  some  little 


38  Church  Finance. 

of  the  money  is  carelessly  spent,  or  injudi- 
ciously applied,  this  is  only  to  make  the  work 
of  a  piece  with  all  human  instrumentalities,  in 
the  family,  in  the  state,  and  in  all  societies. 
There  is  more  or  less  of  waste  Avherever  frail 
humanity  puts  its  hand.  But  he  who  will  not 
help,  except  where  there  is  perfection  in  work- 
ing, must  look  up  to  a  world  which  he  himself 
will  never  reach.  [Probably  this  last  expres- 
sion is  a  little  too  strong,  and  should  rather  be, 
"which  he  himself  may  never  reach."] 

6.  Nearer  the  perfection  of  that  upper  world 
than  almost  anything  else  of  the  kind  on 
earth,  are  the  wisdom,  economy,  and  conscien- 
tious fidelity  with  which  the  charities  of  our 
church  are  handled." 

These  Boards  are  the  agencies  of  our  church 
at  large,  and,  verily,  they  are  her  glory.  And 
just  as  our  general  government,  in  case  of  war, 
must  look  to  the  respective  loyal  states  for 
their  aid  in  supplying  the  necessary  means  of 
warfare,  so  the  church  at  large  can  do  nothing 
towards  carrying  on  her  great  work,  save  as 
the  respective  congregations  under  her  banner 
furnish  her  with    the    necessary  means;  and, 


Objects  of  Giving.  39 

every  congregation  that  refuses  to  lend  some 
aid,  even  its  just  quota,  is  disloyal  to  the  flag. 
As  the  Kev.  Dr.  Thomas  Murphy  says,  in  his 
most  excellent  work  on  "Pastoral  Theology," 
our  church  needs  a  more  thorough  concentra- 
tion of  her  means  upon  these  schemes  that 
have  been  called  into  being,  and  are  to  be  sus- 
tained, for  her  present  and  highest  interest, 
and  which  represents  her  life  and  her  energies. 
"All  the  authority  of  the  church  which  we 
love,  and  to  which  we  owe  so  much,  presses 
upon  us  to  comply  with  her  appointment,  and 
h«lp  to  sustain  the  works  of  benevolence  which 
she  has  established.  It  should  therefore  be 
regarded  as  a  privilege  to  do  something  for  each 
of  these  enterprises.  It  ought  to  be  looked 
upon  as  a  sacred  duty  that  none  of  them  should 
be  ignored."  And,  it  should  here  be  added, 
that  it  should  never  be  feared  that  so  many 
calls  for  contributions — that  much  giving — 
will  ever  hurt  any  church.  The  colored 
brother  put  it  quite  well  when  he  said  he  never 
knew  of  a  church  that  "  died  from  too  much 
giving,"  and,  that,  if  he  ever  should  hear  of  one 
dying   from    that    cause   he   would  go  to  the 


40  Church  Finance. 

sanctuary  where  tlie  departed  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  worshiping,  and  would  preach  its 
funeral  sermon  from  the  precious  text: 
"Blessed  am  de  dead  dat  die  in  deLord!" 
No,  let  it  not  be  imagined  that  the  cultivation 
of  the  habit  of  giving,  among  Christians,  to 
these  benevolent  and  missionary  objects  will 
ever  Avork  to  the  detriment  of  their  own  local 
churches.  On  the  contrary,  doubtless,  it  is 
true,  that  "the  testimony  of  all  experience  is, 
that  instead  of  curtailing  their  gifts  to  their 
own  churches,  Christians  become  more  liberal 
to  it  as  their  sympathies  are  drawn  out  to  the 
wants  of  the  world  beyond;"  and,  "  there  could 
be  no  worse  policy  for  any  one  to  pursue  than 
to  countenance  the  withholding  of  contribu- 
tions from  missionary  and  other  similar  ob- 
jects, lest  it  might  interfere  with  the  revenues 
of  his  own  church.  The  Lord  will  not  bless 
such  a  people" — such  as  cultivate  a  narrow  and 
selfish  spirit — "but,  his  frown  will  rest  upon 
them,  even  in  their  own  church  affairs." 
Churches  are  never  so  sure  of  being  blessed 
themselves  as  when  they  are  faithfully  labor- 
ing and  giving  to  bless  others.     "The   true 


Objects  of  Giving.  41 

gauge  of  a  church's  life  and  vitality,"  as  Dr. 
John  Hall  says,  "is  found  in  what  she  is  doing 
outside  of  herself."  And,  as  Dr.  A.  T.  Pier- 
son  adds,  "when  we  plead  our  poverty  and 
weakness  as  a  reason  for  the  selfishness — mis- 
called '  charity '  that  'begins  at  home,'  and 
stays  there — we  are  mistaking  cause  for  conse- 
quence. It  is  our  apathy  toward  the  perishing 
that  keeps  our  vitality  low  and  weak.  Nothing 
is  needed  by  such  weak  churches  so  much  as 
that  unselfish  passion  for  souls  that  re-acts 
upon  ourselves;  the  heart  that  vigorously 
drives  blood  to  the  fingers'  ends  will  beat  full 
and  strong  at  the  centre.  Our  Lord's  last 
commandment  was  significantly  coupled  with  a 
last  promise,  and  only  so  far  as  that  command 
is  obeyed  is  that  promise  enjoyed.  The  wit- 
ness of  history  is  loud  and  clear.  In  every 
age  Christ's  presence  with  his  people  has  been 
in  exact  proportion  to  their  missionary 
activity." 


CHAPTEE  IV. 


GENERAL  UNSATISFACTORY  CONDITION  OF  CHURCH 
FINANCES. 


FOURTH  POINT:— In  most  churches  there  is  not  a 
sufficient  amount  of  money  cast  into  the  treas- 
ury for  the  proper  support  of  the  Gospel  at 
home. 

Will  any  one  deny  this  ?  Many  most  com- 
petent witnesses  could  be  secured  to  testify  in 
support  of  this  statement.  The  testimony  of 
but  one  will  be  introduced,  however — that  of 
the  Rev.  Dwight  Spencer,  who  has  written  an 
interesting  tract  on  the  subject.  He  says:  "It 
would  probably  be  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
three  quarters  of  our  churches  find  it  difficult 
to  raise  their  current  expenses."  "  In  most 
instances  there  is  almost  always  a  deficiency." 
Nothing  need  be  said  by  way  of  confirmation 
or  illustration  of  this  point,  for  proofs  and  il- 
lustrations may  be  seen  on  all  hands.  Alas! 
too  many  understand  all  about  it,  and  could 
42 


Unsaiisfadory  Condiiion.  43 

give  proofs  and  illustrations  ad  nauseam,  et  ad 
infinitum. 


FIFTH  POINT:— This  insufficiency  of  funds  in  the 
treasury  for  the  wants  of  the  local  church  is 
very  embarrassing, — aye,  has  a  very  pernicious 
influence. 

This  point  scarcely  can  need  argument  or 
amplification  any  more  than  the  previous  one. 
As  many  witnesses  could  be  secured  to  testify 
to,  and  explain,  the  perniciousness  of  this  lack 
of  sufficient  funds  as  could  have  been  secured 
to  bear  witness  to  the  fact  of  the  actual  exist- 
ence of  such  a  lack.  But,  as  we  produced  the 
testimony  of  but  one  witness  as  to  the  fact  of 
common  deficiencies,  so  we  will  here  give  the 
testimony  merely  of  the  same  witness  as  to 
the  pernicious  effect  thereof:  "  These  deficien- 
cies," he  says,  "  have  to  be  made  up  by  a  few, 
and  often  by  those  who  can  least  afford  it. 
They  give,  but  do  it  unwillingly  ;  their  hearts 
are  troubled,  their  spiritual  growth  is  impeded, 
and,  in  some  instances,  they  turn  their  backs 
upon  the  church  and  religion  altogether. 
Meanwhile,  the  church's  bills  falling  due,  from 
time  to  time,  cannot  be  paid  until  the  end  of 


44  Church  Finance. 

the  year,  and  not  always  then ;  and  the  persons 
holding  them  are  put  to  no  little  inconvenience, 
and  come  at  length  (some  of  them)  to  look 
upon  the  cause  of  Christ  with  utter  contempt. 
There  are  many  places  where  the  church  has 
lost  its  power  for  good  " — simply  because  of 
bad  financiering ;  "  for  business  men  will  look 
on  and  say:  '  If  Christianity  is  so  loose  in  the 
management  of  its  temporal  affairs,  if  it  can 
tolerate  meanness  and  dishonesty,  we  want 
nothing  to  do  with  it'  "  Careless,  loose,  mean, 
methods  of  church  financiering  are  certainly 
very  unfortunate,  and  disastrous!  Surely,  this 
is  an  evil  under  the  sun,  and  it  is  very  great ! 


SIXTH  POINT: — The^^e  is  by  no  means  enough 
money  cast  into  our  church  treasuries  for  the 
proper  support  of  her  great  benevolent  and 
missionary  agencies. 

All  these  agencies  are  continually  cramped 
and  crippled  for  want  of  funds.  Just  now  the 
financial  embarrassment  of  most  of  them  is 
unusually  great  and  especially  reproachful. 
Great  and  effectual  doors  are  constantly  open- 
ing up  before  them ;  but  the  necessary  funds 


Unsatisfactory  Condition.  45 

are  not  contributed  to  enable  them  to  enter  in 
and  set  up  their  banner  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  Many,  in  various  lands,  are  crying, 
"  come  over  and  help  us;"  multitudes  are  fam- 
ishing and  going  down  to  death  for  want  of 
the  bread  of  life;  and  brave  men  and  women 
would  gladly  go  to  their  relief ;  and  the  noble 
men  of  our  Boards,  who  muster,  commission, 
equip  and  supply  the  laborers,  long  to  send  out 
the  volunteers  to  "  rescue  the  perishing  and 
care  for  the  dying ;"  but  the  churches  do  not 
properly  heed  these  loud  and  urgent  calls; 
their  contributions  are  far  too  few,  and  far  too 
small,  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  times. 
What  a  reproach  that  Christ's  cause  is  thus 
allowed  to  suffer!  Surely,  his  people  forget 
that  their  Master  hears  these  calls  for  help, 
these  cries  of  the  perishing,  and  anxiously 
watches  to  see  "  how  people  cast  money  into 
the  treasury." 


CHAPTER  V. 


CAUSES  OF    THE    GENERAL    UNSATISFACTORY    CON- 
DITION OF  CHURCH  FINANCES. 


SEVENTH  POINT :— One  muse  of  the  general  unsat- 
isfactory  condition  of  church  finances,  as  they 
pertain  to  the  support  of  the  Gospel  at  home, 
can  generally  he  t^^aced  to  those  officers  ivhose 
special  duty  it  is  to  look  after  these  finances. 

Undoubtedly,  lack  of  proper  interest  and 
management  on  the  part  of  these  officers  will 
be  found  to  be  the  chief  cause  of  these  defi- 
ciencies and  embarrassments,  in  many  cases. 
Some  congregations  have  a  "  Board  of  Trus- 
tees" to  manage  their  finances  so  far  as  they 
pertain  to  the  support  of  the  Gospel  at  home; 
some  commit  this  work  to  the  "elders;"  some 
to  the  "deacons;"  some  to  a  "committee  of 
women  " — and  we  have  known  cases  where  the 
women  were  decidedly  the  hesi  men  for  the 
business;  and  some  congregations  commit  all 
this  work  to — well,  it  would  seem,  to  "the 
46 


Causes  of  This  Condition.  47 

man  in  the  moon,"  or  some  other  far-off,  orfar- 
up,  foreigner,  who  never  gets  down  to  this 
earthly  sphere  of  action.  Now,  if  those  offi- 
cers to  whom  this  matter  is  committed — what- 
ever, or  whoever  they  be,  or  be  called — fail  to 
realize  that  there  is  work  for  them  to  do,  and 
that  they  must  get  down  to  it,  their  mere  elec- 
tion or  appointment  to  the  office,  and  their 
bearing  of  the  name,  simply,  will  not  keep  the 
finances  in  the  proper  shape.  For  their  sinful 
neglect  of  this  important  matter,  which  is  the 
cause  of  so  much  embarrassment,  trouble,  and 
inefficiency  in  the  church,  they  surely  will  yet 
be  "brought  into  judgment." 


EIGHTH  POINT: — One  cause  of  the  general  unsatis- 
factory condition  of  church  finances,  as  they 
pertain  to  her  benevolent  and  missionary  agen- 
cies, is  often,  aye,  generally,  traceable  to  the 
ministry. 

Are  there  not  pulpits,  indeed,  many  of  them, 
where  the  "oracle  "  as  to  this  subject  of  giving 
seems  almost,  if  not  quite  dumb;  from  which 
scarcely  ever  a  sentence,  and  never  a  sermon, 
is  proclaimed  concerning  the  necessity  of  giv- 
ing, and  concerning  these  charitable  agencies ; 


48  Church  Finance. 

from  which  there  is  never  any  fair  presentation 
of  the  nature  of  their  work,  and  the  extent  of 
their  needs?  And  whereA^er  this  can  be  said 
of  the  pulpit,  what  need  be  expected  of  the 
people?  They  need  not  be  expected  to  give 
much,  if  any.  If,  as  Dr.  Pierson  says,  "  the 
bulk  of  Christian  disciples  are  as  ignorant  of 
God's  campaign  amid  the  tottering  walls  of 
heathendom  and  popedom  as  though  the  war  of 
the  ages  were  in  progress  on  another  planet," 
they  need  not  be  blamed  so  much  for  not  con- 
tributing of  their  means  to  aid  in  carrying  on 
that  war  of  which  they  know  nothing ;  the  min- 
istry rather,  is  to  blame  for  the  gross  ignorance 
of  their  people  and  their  consequent  failure  in 
this  matter  of  giving.  In  regard  to  this  point, 
or  law,  of  ministerial  responsibility  and  blame, 
we  can  cite  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  or,  rather,  the  opinion  of 
one  of  the  judges  of  that  High  Court;  for  we 
heard  Judge  Strong  say  at  the  General  Assem- 
bly at  Springfield,  111.,  in  1882,  that,  if  the 
ministers  would  only  present  the  claims  of  our 
benevolent  and  missionary  boards, — if  ihey 
would  only  explain  their  work,  and  their  wants, 


Causes  of  This  Condition.  49 

and  ask  the  people  to  contribute  to  them,  the 
people  would  always  respond  and  give.  The 
responsibility  and  blame  for  the  great  lack  in 
benevolent  and  missionary  contributions, — the 
innumerable  blanks  in  the  General  Assembly 
statistical  reports — has  repeatedly,  and  long, 
been  charged  to  the  ministry,  and  doubtless 
with  good  reason.  At  least  the  first  minister 
who  ever  faithfully  presented  these  claims,  and 
utterly  failed  to  get  any  response  from  the 
people,  is  yet  to  be  heard  from. 

Kecently  a  writer  in  the  Interior,  after  reit- 
erating this  charge  against  the  ministry,  said: 
"If  the  General  Assembly  would  get  the 
preachers  by  the  ears,  instead  of  the  Churches, 
the  problem  of  systematic  beneficence  would  be 
solved,"  all  the  benevolent  and  missionary 
agencies  would  be  remembered  and  would  re- 
ceive quite  enough.  But,  the  writer  should 
have  known,  that  the  Assembly  has  had  the 
"preachers  by  the  ears,"  lo!  these  many  years, 
has  been  saying,  repeatedly,  that  they  must  do 
their  duty,  instruct  the  people  in  regard  to 
these  agencies,  and  give  them  an  opportunity 
to  contribute  to  all  of  them.  The  persistency 
4 


50  Church  Finance. 

with  which  so  many  of  the  good  brethren  con- 
tinue to  disregard  the  pulling,  to  disobey  the 
repeated  recommendations,  and  injunctions  of 
their  highest  Church  court,  certainly,  is  not  to 
their  credit,  and  they  ought  to  "reconsider"  and 
change  their  conduct  in  this  matter. 


NINTH  POINT :— Another  cause  of  the  general  unsat- 
isfactory condition  of  the  Church  finances,  both 
as  pertaining  to  the  needs  at  home  and  abroad, 
is  traceable  to  the  people. 

The  great  trouble  with  them,  to  state  it  in 
Scriptural  language,  is,  "the  love  of  money,  the 
root  of  all  evil."  Unmistakably,  this  is  one 
great  cause;  the  "root,"  of  this  "financial  evil, 
this  lack  of  sufficient  offerings  for  the  Lord's 
treasury."  "Oh,  if  you  only  knew  how  it  hurts 
me  to  give,  you  would  not  ask  me!"  exclaimed 
one  when  solicited  to  give  something  for  some 
Church  work.  Yes,  how  hard  it  is  for  many  to 
part  with  the  "almighty  dollar!"  How  hard  to 
bid  adieu,  a  last  farewell,  to  that  around  which 
the  affections  have  long  been  entwined,  on 
which  the  heart  has  long  been  doting!  To' give 
up  money,  to  some,  is  to  give  up  all.     It  is  like 


Causes  of  This  CondUion.  51 

parting  with  their  life  blood.  Unregenerated 
human  nature  abhors  the  idea  of  giving  any- 
thing for  Church  or  benevolent  purposes;  and 
the  Christian  that  is  imperfectly  transformed, 
and  poorly  developed  spiritually,  rebels  at  the 
thought;  says,  "I  object  to  giving  very  much 
anyhow.  It  is  hard  to  see  Christ's  cause  suffer, 
to  be  sure,  and  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  Mace- 
donian cries  for  help,  but  oh,  it  is  harder  to 
give  up  this  precious  stuff!"  Just  so  it  is  with 
some ;  with  others  it  is  much  the  same,  if  not 
quite  so  bad,  and  so  the  Lord's  treasury  re- 
ceives not  the  needed  funds. 


CHAPTEE    VI 


WHAT  IS  NEEDED    TO    BETTER   THE  CONDITION  OF 
CHUECH     FINANCES. 


TENTH  POINT:— One  thing  needed  to  better  the  con- 
dition of  Church  finances  is  that  the  office  bear- 
ers, both  those  who  manage  the  finances  as  they 
pertahi  to  the  wants  at  home,  and  the  ministers 
and  other  officers,  ivho  are  responsible  for  the 
management  of  the  benevolent  and  missionary 
work,  more  fully  appreciate  their  responsibility, 
and  more  faithfully  and  conscientiously  meet 
the  requirements,  and  perform  the  duties,  of 
their  respective  offices. 

As  to  the  support  of  the  Gospel  at  home,  let 
the  Trustees,  or  whatever  officers  are  charged 
with  the  care  of  the  "temporalities,"  but  real- 
ize their  responsibilities,  and  faithfully  give 
themselves  to  their  official  work,  and  the  finan- 
ces, as  they  pertain  to  the  wants  of  the  local 
Churches,  Avill  assume  quite  a  different  condi- 
tion. All  congregations,  especially  their  offi- 
cers, ought  to  recognize,  and  act  consistently 
52 


What  is  Needed  9  53 

with,  the  fact  that  "business  is  business,"  in 
Church  matters  as  well  as  anywhere  else.  "Let 
all  things  be  clone  decently  and  in  order,"  is  a 
Scriptural  injunction  especially  pertinent  and 
applicable  here.  If  the  officers  in  charge  of 
the  Church  finances  will  but  adopt  the  business 
principles  and  ways  that  wise  business  men 
adopt  in  their  personal  financial  business,  bet- 
ter, vastly  better,  will  it  be  for  the  Church; 
one  great  cause  of  their  financial  deficiencies, 
and  the  consequent  embarrassments  and  re- 
proach will  be  gone  forever.  "Business,"  order, 
system,  promptness  is  required  to  secure 
success  everywhere,  and  nowhere  is  it  more 
necessary  and  important  than  in  the  Church, 
in  the  Lord's  affairs.  Verily,  "the  merchant 
who  conducts  his  business  in  a  careless,  irregu- 
lar manner,  fails.  The  mechanic  who  has  not 
'a  place  for  everything  and  everything  in  its 
place,'  seldom  attains  skill  in  his  department  of 
labor.  The  agriculturist  who  has  no  method 
in  cultivating  the  soil,  is  likely  to  'beg  in  har- 
vest and  have  nothing,'  In  the  smallest  matter 
we  insist  upon  some  regular  plan,  and,  in  pro- 
portion   as    our    schemes,    or    duties,    rise   in 


54  Church  Finance. 

importance,  the  obligations  of  order  increase. 
How  unreasonable  then  that,  in  the  great  work 
of  Church  financiering,  and  religious  benefi- 
cence, we  should  allow  everything  to  be  done 
in  a  confused  and  accidental  way!"  It  ought 
not  so  to  be,  as  is  now  too  generally  the  case. 
For  example,  it  should  not  be  allowed,  that  a 
financial  obligation  of  a  member,  toward  the 
Church,  should  be  less  binding,  or  less  exactly 
and  promptly  met,  than  his  financial  obligation 
to  the  merchant,  or  the  butcher.  And,  every 
financial  obligation  of  the  Church  to  any  party, 
it  ought  to  be  understood,  must  always  be  met 
fully  and  promptly. 

Then,  as  to  the  benevolent  and  missionary 
agencies  of  the  Church,  let  the  sessions,  elders 
and  ministers,  especially  the  latter,  properly 
appreciate  these  agencies,  and  their  own  re- 
sponsibility in  relation  to  them;  let  them 
properly  magnify  the  importance  of  these 
causes,  let  them  urge  their  people  to  take  an 
interest  in  them,  and  to  give  to  them,  and  as- 
suredly the  treasuries  will  be  much  replenished, 
the  embarrassments  of  these  agencies  will 
vanish,    their  work    will   be    accelerated    and 


What  is  Needed  ?  55 

augmented,  and  God  will  be  greatly  glorified 
thereby. 

Some  years  ago,  when  our  Church  dispensed 
with  all  soliciting  agents,  she  committed  to  the 
sessions,  more  especially  to  the  ministers,  the 
entire  duty  and  responsibility  of  presenting  to 
their  charges  the  claims  of  these  agencies. 
And,  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners^ 
have  General  Assemblies,  Synods,  and  Presby- 
teries spoken  to  the  elders  and  ministers,  in- 
sisting that  they  must  instruct  their  congrega- 
tions as  to  the  importance  and  wants  of  these 
causes,  and  give  them  an  opportunity  to  con- 
tribute to  each;  and,  what  is  now  needed  is, 
that  these  pastors  and  rulers  of  the  people 
"perform  the  doing  of  it,"  obey  these  injunc- 
tions, which  they  have  no  manner  of  right  to 
disobey.  If  universally,  or  even  generally, 
they  would  but  act  in  keeping  wdth  these  in- 
junctions, and  consistently  with  the  great  and 
pressing  demands  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
times,  there  would  be  a  great  change  for  the 
better  in  the  supply  of  funds  for  all  these  im- 
portant agencies.  How  any  of  God's  servants 
can  fail  to  be  interested  in  these  great  and  good 


56  Church  Fmance. 

causes,  and  can  neglect  tlieir  duty  towards  them, 
is  hard  to  understand,  and  we  would  not  ven- 
ture to  explain  it.  We  would  here  say,  how- 
ever, that  the  late  lamented  Samuel  J.  Wilson, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  in  addressing  our  class  once  at 
the  seminary  said,  that  the  reason  why  so  many 
ministers  refuse  to  present  to  their  Churches, 
the  claims  of  these  benevolent  and  missionary 
agencies  was,  that  they  "feared  contributing  to 
them  might  interfere  with  the  payment  of  their 
own  salaries!"  Can  this  be  the  cause?  Such 
really  would  not  be  the  consequence,  if  we  ar- 
gued correctly  in  the  latter  part  of  Chapter 
III.  But,  suppose  there  might  be  possible 
danger  of  some  such  interference,  should  any 
of  Christ's  servants  permit  such  unworthy  and 
selfish  considerations  and  fears  to  swerve  them 
from  duty?  Will  a  man,  because  of  supposed 
interference  with  his  salary,  turn  a  deaf  ear, 
not  only  to  the  injunctions  of  his  Church  courts, 
but  to  the  pitiful  cries  of  the  perishing  heathen, 
and  of  the  suffering  saints,  for  whom  his  Lord 
gave  even  himself  a  ransom  ?  If  so,  then,  of 
him  may  it  be  said: 


What  is  Needed?  57 

"  Though  in  the  sacred  place  he  stands, 

Uphfting  consecrated  hands, 
Unworthy  are  his  lips  to  tell 

Of  Jesus'  martyr-miracle; 
Thy  miracle  of  life  and  death, 

Thou  holy  one  of  Nazareth!" 


ELEVENTH  POINT:— Another  thing  needed,  in  order 
that  the  condition  of  church  finances  may  he 
bettered,  is  that  God's  people  renounce  the  no- 
tions and  ways  of  the  world,  as  to  the  "  chief 
end  of  man,"  and  the  use  of  money,  and  adopt 
true  and  worthy  notions  and  ways  in  regard 
thereto. 

"  The  chief  end  of  man,"  according  to  the 
common  notion  to-day,  seems  to  be,  "to  accumu- 
late money — to  hoard  it."  Among  those 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  prevailing  senti- 
ment of  these  times,  everything  is  set  to  the 
tune  of  money.  Revising  the  Songs  of  Solo- 
mon, they  would  say:  "  Money  is  the  principal 
thing;  therefore,  with  all  thy  getting,  get 
money;"  and  they  would  add  a  line,  thus: 
"  Care  not  for  the  manner  of  the  getting,  only 
get  it,  and  keep  it." 

Surely,  in  order  that  the  Lord's  treasury  may 
receive  a  sufficiency,  and  the  church  finances  may 


58  Church  Finance. 

be  put  in  a  better  condition,  and  kept  so,  it  is 
needed  that  Christians  renounce  these  false 
and  pernicious  notions  of  the  age,  and  adopt 
truer  and  nobler  principles  and  ways.  What- 
ever others  may  say  and  do,  Christians  ought 
to  recognize  the  fact,  and  ought  to  act  consist- 
ently therewith,  that  "  man's  chief  end  is  to 
glorify  God,"  and  that  they  are  to  glorify  him 
with  their  money  as  with  all  other  talents. 
They  must  recognize  the  fact  that  they  them- 
selves are  "not  their  own,  but  have  been  bought 
with  a  price;"  that  all  they  have  has  been  given 
them,  in  order  that  they  might  use  it  for  God 
and  the  glory  of  his  name ;  and  that  they  must 
not  love  money  save  for  the  good  they  can  do 
with  it.  Christians  must  not  forget  that,  ac- 
cording to  God's  Book,  "  covetousness  is  idol- 
atry," and  they  must  shun  it  as  much  as  men 
generally  shun  the  cholera,  or  any  deadly  dis- 
ease. They  should  remember,  too,  that,  as 
many  have  been  saying  of  late,  covetousness  is 
the  great  sin  of  the  Church  of  to-day.  One 
of  the  bishops  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  at  all  events 
one  of  their  most  eminent  divines — if  we  mis- 
take not  he  was  one  of  the  bishops — proclaimed, 


What  is  Needed?  59 

not  long  ago,  that  "more  persons  will  go  to 
hell  from  the  Methodist  Church,  because  of 
coveteousness,  than  because  of  all  other  sins;" 
and,  perhaps,  as  to  all  other  churches  we  might 
write  under  that  charge,  "ditto."  One  of  our 
Presbyterian  bishops,  at  the  last  meeting  of  the 
Synod  of  Ohio,  urged  that  just  now  the  Church 
needs,  above  all  things  else,  to  make  special  ef- 
forts to'  check  and  remove  covetousness ;  for,  he 
exclaimed:  "While  intemperance  may  be  said 
to  be  slaying  its  thousands,  covetousness  is 
slaying  its  ten  thousands !"  The  facts,  to  say 
the  least,  are  alarming,  exceedingly  so.  We  do 
not  overlook  or  ignore  the  fact  that  there  have 
been  all  these  years,  and  are  now,  some  Christ- 
ians among  us,  whose  ideas  as  to  the  "  chief 
end  of  man,"  and  whose  practice  as  to  the  use 
of  money  are  quite  different  from  those  which 
commonly  prevail.  There  are  those  whose 
ideas  and  practice,  in  this  matter,  are  true  and 
praiseworthy.  The  late  Rev.  Dr.  C.  C.  Beatty, 
of  Steubenville,  Ohio,  may  be  named  as  a 
worthy  specimen  and  illustration.  In  '78  I 
had  the  privilege  of  conducting  him,  in  his 
feebleness  and  blindness,  from  the  Theological 


60  Church  Finance, 

Seminary,  at  Allegheny,  to  the  Pittsburgh  de- 
pot, when  he  was  on  his  way  to  New  Yoik  City 
to  transact  certain  financial  business.  As  we 
walked  along,  he  spoke  of  the  recent  death  of 
an  attorney  at  Steubenville,  whom  he  had  se- 
lected to  settle  his  estate  when  he  should  be 
called  away.  "But,  then,"  he  said,  "that  will 
not  be  so  much  of  a  matter,  for  I  have  always 
thought  that,  as  far  as  possible,  I  would  like  to 
be  the  administrator  of  my  own  estate,  and  ex- 
ecutor of  my  own  will."  And  in  whose  inter- 
ests he  endeavored  to  administer  his  estate  is 
learned  from  a  remarkable  paper  which  he  had 
drawn  up  and  adopted  in  the  year  1851,  when 
he  was  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  which  was  dis- 
covered among  his  papers  soon  after  his  death. 
It  should  be  here  said,  that  previous  to  that 
time — '51 — he  had  been  giving  to  the  Lord  one- 
tenth  of  his  income.  The  principal  part  of  the 
paper  is  as  follows:  "All  that  I  possess  was  re- 
ceived from  God.  He  has  most  surprisingly 
prospered  me  in  worldly  circumstances  above 
my  expectations  or  wishes.  I  am  but  his 
steward;  with  myself  and  mine  I  desire  to  glo- 
rify him.     An   increase  of  my  property  is  not 


What  is  Needed?  61 

desirable.     Eesolution  and  effort  are  necessary 
to  prevent  this.     For  this  purpose  I  adopt  the 
following  paper,  and  I  trust  that  God  will  help 
me  to  follow  it."     Then  he  resolved  that  his 
property  should  not   be   permitted   to  exceed 
$70,000;  all  else  coming  into  his  possession  to 
be  held  as  transient  funds;  and  he  concluded 
his  vow  thus:   "  Every  spring  and  fall  all  sur- 
plus funds,  over  and  above  a  mere  living  and 
necessary  repairs,  shall  be  sacredly  consecrated 
to  charitable   and  religious  purposes,  and  be 
paid   over   without  delay,  excuse,  or   evasion. 
The  Lord  help  me  to  keep  this  resolution.   For 
the  accomplishment  of  all  this,  my  only  hope 
and  help  is  in  the  special  grace  of  God,  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  enable  me  to  do  it ;  and  to  God 
alone  be  all  the  praise."     And  in  accordance 
with  these  resolutions  he  acted  during  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life,  about  thirty  years.     Mark, 
he  did  not  desire  that  money  should  not  come 
into  his  possession.     He  sought  to  make  money, 
and  did  make  a  great  deal  of  it,  having  peculiar 
financial  ability;  but  he  desired  and  determined 
that  money  should  not  remain  in  his  possession; 
should  not  accumulate  on  his  hands ;  he  desired 


62  Church  Finance. 

liis  hands  to  be  a  channel  through  which  it 
should  pass  on  missions  of  love,  to  "charitable 
and  religious  purposes ;"  and  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars  did  thus  pass  through  his 
.hands. 

And  there  have  been,  and  still  are,  many 
others  of  like  spirit  and  consecration.  Dodge, 
and  Morgan,  and  McCormick,  and  others,  of 
whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,  have  recently 
gone  to  their  reward — aye,  and  an  exceeding 
great  reward  it  is  that  awaits  those  who  con- 
secrate their  money,  to  benevolent  and  Christ- 
ian work.  "Make  to  yourselves  friends  of  the 
mammon  of  unrighteousness  that  when  ye  fail 
they  may  receive  you  into  everlasting  habita- 
tions," saith  the  Lord.  As  one  well  remarks 
in  this  passage:  "Money  will  not  purchase 
our  entrance  into  Heaven.  Nothing  can  do 
that  but  the  work  of  Christ;  but  the  money 
w^iich  out  of  love  to  Christ  we  give  to  his  peo- 
ple and  his  cause  will  secure  that  we  shall  be 
received  in  Heaven  by  those  w^iom  we  have 
been  the  means  of  benefiting.  As  we  enter 
they  Avill  take  us  by  the  hand  and  lead  us  up 
to  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  saying,    This 


What  is  Needed  ?  63 

is  lie  whose  efforts  and  whose  gifts  were,  under 
thee,  the  means  of  our  being  here ;  let  it  be 
done  nnto  him  as  unto  the  man  whom  the 
King  delighteth  to  honor."  Notwithstanding 
covetousness  so  generally  prevails,  yet,  verily, 
there  have  been  and  still  are,  bright  and 
shining  lights  of  a  better  spirit,  and  a  better 
way,  that  ought  to  lead  to  their  general  adop- 
tion. There  perhaps  never  was  a  time  when 
zealous,  large  hearted  men  devised  more  liberal 
things  than  some  few  men  of  our  own  times.  One 
day  we  read  of  one  generous  man  giving  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  to  a  Christian  insti- 
tution of  learning;  another  day  we  read  of  a 
second  giving  twice  that  much  for  a  like  pur- 
pose ;  again,  we  read  of  a  prince  in  Israel  build- 
ing entirely  of  his  own  means  a  fine  church, 
costing  thirty  or  forty  thousand  dollars,  for  a 
needy  neighborhood;  again,  we  read  of  one 
casting  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  into  the 
treasury  for  Foreign  Missions;  another  day 
we  read  of  some  one  else  distributing  his 
charities  somewhat,  and  casting  into  the  treas- 
ury twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  one  good 
cause,    the    same    amount    for    another;    ten 


64  Church  Finance. 

thousand  for  this  one,  that  one,  and  another ;  and 
five  thousand  for  each  of  several  other  causes. 
Then  again,  we  frequently  hear  of  other  gifts, 
smaller  inonesense,  but  larger  in  another  sense, 
and  mostprecious  in  the  Lord's  sight,  for  they  are 
as  the  gift  of  the  poor  widow,  who,  in  her 
poverty,  cast  in  "  all  that  she  had,  even  all  her 
living." 

The  good  widow,  of  whom  the  late  Dr. 
Dickson,  secretary  of  our  Board  of  Home 
Missions,  frequently  spoke,  will  serve  as  an 
example.  During  our  late  civil  war,  the  even- 
ing before  a  bloody  battle,  the  commander  of 
a  regiment,  or  a  company,  solemnly  said  to  his 
men:  "Doubtless,  we  will  have  a  fierce  encoun- 
ter to-morrow ;  the  most  of  us  may  fall ;  if  any 
of  you  would  like  to  send  some  momento  to 
loved  ones  at  home,  send  it  to-night."  So  one 
brave,  good  man,  sent  a  gold  coin,  two  dollars 
and  a  half,  to  his  wife  in  the  mountains  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  next  day  he  was  among 
the  slain.  His  wife  was  left  with  several  small 
children,  and  with  scarcely  any  means  for 
their  support.  After  the  war  closed  she 
received  a  small  pension,  and  with  that  assistance 


What  is  Needed  9  65 

she  managed  to  support  her  family;  yes,  and 
also    endeavored    always    to   contribute    some- 
thing toward  the  support  of  the  Gospel,  both 
at  home   and  abroad.     On  Saturday  evening, 
or  Sabbath  morning,  before  a  collection  was  to 
be  taken  for  any  of  the  benevolent  agencies  of 
the  Presbyterian  church,  to  which  she  belonged, 
she    and   her   children  were  in  the   habit    of 
making  an  estimate  of  how  much  they  could 
give,  for  giving  was  a  part  of  their  religion, 
and  they  felt  that  it  was  "more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive."     One  very  cold  winter,  when 
much  fuel  and  clothing  were  needed,  and  she 
was  really  unable  to  procure  a  sufficient  supply, 
with  much  sorrow  she  and  her  children  went 
to  the  house  of  God  at  the  appointed  hour  on 
Sabbath  morning,   feeling  that  for  once  they 
would  have  to  forego  the  privilege  and  pleasure 
of   contributing  to   the  Board  of  Home  Mis- 
sions, for  that  was  the  cause  to  be  remembered 
that  day.     Hard,  indeed,  did  it  seem  to  her  to 
be  deprived  of  such  a  privilege ;  and  she  felt  it 
to  be  bejcnd  endurance.     She  could  contribute 
nothing  on  the  Sabbath  with  the  rest  of  the 
congregation,   for    she   had    nothing;   but   on 
5 


66  Church  Finance. 

reaching  home,  she  goes  to  a  little  drawer  in 
the  bureau  and  takes  out  that  gold  coin,  so 
dear  to  heart,  the  last  memento  of  her  cher- 
ished husband,  and  as  the  minister  passed  her 
humble  home  the  next  morning,  she  comes  out 
and  sivinff  him  the  two  and  a  half  dollars — 
which  she  thought  a  very  small  amount  for 
even  such  a  one  as  her  to  give — she  says: 
"Take  it  as  a  memento  for  Christ."  Never, 
perhaps,  did  Christian  women  do  more  for 
benevolence  and  missions,  than  many  worthy 
mothers,  and  wives  and  daughters,  of  to-day. 
Never  before,  perhaps,  did  boys  and  girls  in 
Zion  give  more  1o  Christ's  cause  than  many  in 
the  churches  and  Sabbath-schools  and  mission 
bands  of  these  times.  Nothing  is  more  com- 
mendable and  inspiring  than  the  tender  inter- 
est and  great  zeal  that  some  of  the  youth 
manifest,  these  days,  in  laboring  and  giving  to 
promote  the  interests  of  Christ's  cause  and  to 
build  up  his  kingdom.  Think,  for  example,  of 
that  little  Philadelphia  maid  of  seven  years, 
whom  Dr.  Mutchmore  delights  to  honor.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  poor  parents.  She  and 
her   mother,    a   few  years   ago,    had   been  in 


What  is  Needed  9  67 

the  habit  of  comiii<x  to  Dr.  Mutchmore's  church 
in  the  evening  and  taking  their  places  under 
the  gallery;  for  she  said,  "we  cannot  sit  with 
the  fine  people  you  have  here  in  the  morning." 
Finally  she  desired  to  unite  with  the  church. 
She,  with  her  mother,  meets  the  session ;  but  the 
mother  said  to  the  pastor  that  she  had  brought 
the  little  girl  to  him  to  see  if  he  could  not  per- 
suade her  out  of  the  notion  of  uniting  with  the 
church,  and  when  he  asked  why  she  should 
be  persuaded  out  of  the  notion,  the  mother's 
answer  was  that  she  was  too  young.  After 
several  questions  had  been  put  to  her  by  the 
session,  one  of  the  elders  asked,  "Do  you  not 
think  you  could  wait  a  little  while?"  And  she 
answered,  "No;  I  do  not  think  I  could,  for 
Jesus  Christ  said,  'suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  me,'  and  nobody  calls  me  a  little 
child,  and  I  think  I  must  be  bigger  than  those 
children  he  took  in  his  arms  and  blessed." 
And  then  the  good  pastor  said  to  the  session: 
"If  you  cannot  receive  this  child,  I  think  I 
will  take  her  myself."  And  he  received  her. 
And  then  afterwards  she  brought  in  her  father 
and  mother,  for  they  had  been  without  the  fold. 


68  Church  Finance. 

Some  months  afterwards  her  health  failed. 
And  one  Sabbath  after  her  pastor  returned 
from  his  summer  vacation,  he  was  summoned 
to  visit  her.  He  found  her  dying.  He  prayed 
with  her;  and,  he  says,  "She  led  me  nearer 
to  the  throne  of  God  than  I  ever  was  before." 
When  he  was  about  to  say  good-bye,  and  leave 
her,  she  requested  her  mother  to  bring  her 
money,  and  all  the  money  ever  the  child  had, 
four  dollars  and  twenty-one  cents,  all  in  small 
coins,  was  put  into  her  hands.  Then  reaching 
out  her  thin  hand  to  her  pastor,  she  said:  "I 
want  you  to  promise  me  that  you  will  take  this 
money  and  build  with  it  a  church  for  poor 
people  like  we  are."  And  when  the  answer 
came:  "This  is  not  enough  to  build  a  church," 
she  said,  "then  I  will  pray  for  you."  So  her 
pastor  kneeled  down  by  her  bed-side,  and  in 
the  simplicity  and  faith  of  her  childlike  notion, 
she  entreated  God  to  give  him  grace  to  build 
a  church  with  that  money.  And  no  wonder 
that,  as  he  says,  he  "promised  her  that  the 
church  should  be  built."  And  by  and  by,  with 
no  other  funds  than  that  to  start  with,  the 
church  was  begun,  and  finally  was  completed, 


WJiat  is  Needed  ?  69 

and  was  called  "The  Memorial  Church"  of 
Philadelphia,  in  honor  of  her  and  her  gift ;  and 
within  its  walls  hundreds  have  been  gathered 
to  hear  of,  and  some  have  always  been  led  to 
believe  in,  him  whom  now  she  worships  in  the 
upper  sanctuary,  where  doubtless  she  is  deemed 
worthy  to  sit  down  with  the  finest  and  the  best 
of  the  glorified  throng. 

Yes,  there  are  noble,  consecrated,  generous- 
hearted,  and  liberal-h^^ed  ones,  even  in  this 
age,  among  the  men,  among  the  women,  and 
among  the  children  of  the  church.  In  the 
the  midst  of  the  prevailing  idolatry  of  covet- 
ousness,  God  doubtless  has  reserved  in  Israel 
some  thousands  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee 
to  the  money  god,  and  whose^ mouths  have  not 
kissed  him.  We  must  conclude  this ;  we  must 
be  thankful,  and  must  praise  God  for  it;  and 
we  must  hope  and  pray  for  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  such  worthy  Christians,  and  for  a 
decrease  in  the  number  of  the  idolaters;  for 
there  are  only  enough  of  the  fully  consecrated, 
generous  and  worthy  ones  to  serve  as  examples 
and  to  enable  us  by  contrast  to  see  more 
clearly  and  understand  more  fully  the  worldli- 


70  Church  Finance. 

ness,  and  false  notions  and  ways  of  the  masses 
of  Christian  professors.  When  worldliness  and 
covetousness  are  less  common  in  the  church, 
and  true  notions  as  to  Christian  consecration, 
and  the  use  of  money,  are  adopted,  one  of  the 
things  most  needed  to  better  the  condition  of 
church  finances  will  be  attained. 


TWELFTH  POINT :— Again,  in  order  that  church 
finances  may  he^mt  in  a  better  condition,  and 
kept  so,  it  is  needed  that  God's  people  generally 
he  more  thoroughly  instructed  in  what  the 
Scriptures  teach,  and  more  thoroughly  trained 
in  the  Scriptural  principles  and  ways  concern- 
ing this  matter  of  giving. 

An  earnest  Christian  gentleman,  it  is  said, 
pointing  to  a  certain  brother,  addressed  his 
pastor  as  follows:  "  Why  is  that  man  such  a 
mean  giver?  He  hates  to  part  with  a  cent,  no 
matter  how  good  the  object;  yet  he  is  well  off, 
and  has  a  liberal  income.  He  is  all  wrong  on 
this  subject  of  giving,  but  why  is  it  that  he 
gives  so  little  and  feels  so  badly  over  even  that 
little?'  Some  one  commenting  on  this,  re- 
marks: "Every  person  knows  more  than  one 
such  '  mean  giver' ;  and  some  know  where  they 


What  is  Needed?  71 

are  as  plentiful  as  frogs  in  a  marsh,  and  about 
like  frogs  in  croaking  over  '  so  many  calls  for 
money.'  "  "  Now,  the  question  is,"  adds  he 
who  relates  the  incident,  "  why  are  there  so 
many  such  mean  givers?"  and,  he  says,  "we 
answer,  without  hesitation,  because  they  have 
not  been  properly  instructed  and  trained  in  the 
principles  of  Christian  giving  as  a  part  of 
Christian  life."  And  well  does  he  add:  "  Proper 
instruction  is  necessary,  from  the  pulpit,  in  the 
Sunday-school,  and  in  the  family;  but,  in  a 
majority  of  cases,  pastors,  teachers  and  par- 
ents wholly  neglect  this  subject,  or  give  it  very 
partial  attention." 

Surely,  in  these  times  especially  of  active, 
aggressive  work  and  warfare,  and  of  such  large 
demands  for  the  "  sinews  of  war,"  he  who 
"  sits  over  against  the  treasury,  and  beholds 
how  people  cast  money  into  the  treasury," 
frowns  upon  those  who,  by  withholding  Script- 
ural instruction,  are  largely  responsible  for 
the  multiplicity  of  such  "  mean  givers." 
Parents  and  Sabbath-school  teachers  certainly 
ought  mo7-e  faithfully  to  instruct  those  com- 
mitted to  their  care,   concerning  Bible  truths 


72  Church  Finance. 

and  principles  bearing  on  this  Christian  duty  of 
giving;  and,  assuredly,  ministers  ought,  on 
this  as  on  all  subjects,  to  "  preach  the  preaching 
that  God  gives  them ; "  ought  to  speak  on  this 
important  subject  even  as  God  has  spoken  in 
his  Holy  Book;  and  therein  he  has  spoken 
frequently,  clearly,  and  emphatically;  aye,  has 
given  "  precept  upon  precept,  precept  upon  pre- 
cept, line  upon  line,  line  upon  line,  here  a  lit- 
tle and  there  a  little."  For  example,  the  fol- 
lowing, and  many  other  such  words,  has  God 
spoken:  "Remember  the  words  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  how  he  said.  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive." — Acts  xx.  35.  "Ye  know  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes,  he  became 
poor,  that  ye  through  his  poverty  might  be 
rich." — IL  Cor.  viii.  9.  "  Liasmuch  as  ye 
have  done  it  unto  the  least  of  these,  my  breth- 
ren, ye  have  done  it  unto  me." — Matt.  xxv.  40. 
"  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  unto  me." — 
Matt.  xxv.  45.  "  Every  man  shall  give  as 
he  is  able,  according  to  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  which  he  hath  given  thee." — 


What  is  Needed?  73 

Deut.  xvi.  17.  "  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store  as 
God  hath  prospered  him." — I.  Cor.  xvi.  2. 
"  Thy  silver  and  thy  gold  is  mine." — I.  Kings, 
XX.  3.  "  Bring  an  offering  and  come  into  his 
courts." — Ps.  xcvi.  8.  "  Every  man  accord- 
ing as  he  purposeth  in  his  heart,  so  let  him 
give;  not  grudgingly,  or  of  necessity:  for  God 
loveth  a  cheerful  giver." — 11.  Cor.  ix.  7.  "All 
the  tithe  of  the  land,  whether  of  the  seed  of 
the  land,  or  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  is  the 
Lord's;  it  is  holy  unto  the  Lord.  *  *  *  And 
concerning  the  tithe  of  the  herd,  or  of  the 
flock,  the  tenth  shall  be  holy  unto  the  Lord." 
—Lev.  xxvii.  30-32.  "Will  a  man  rob  God? 
Yet  ye  have  robbed  me.  But  ye  say.  Wherein 
have  we  robbed  thee  ?  In  tithes  and  offerings. 
Ye  are  cursed  with  a  curse,  for  ye  have  robbed 
me,  even  this  whole  nation." — Mai.  iii.  8,  9. 
"There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increaseth; 
and  there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is 
meet,  but  it  tendeth  to  poverty.  The  liberal 
soul  shall  be  made  fat:  and  he  that  watereth 
shall  be  watered  also  himself." — Prov.  xi.  24, 
25.     "  He  which  soweth  sparingly  shall  reap 


74  Church  Finance. 

also  sparingly;  and  he  which  soweth  bounti- 
fully shall  reap  also  bountifully." — II.  Cor.  ix. 
6.  "  Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  and 
with  the  first  fruits  of  all  thine  increase :  so 
shall  thy  barns  be  filled  with  plenty,  and  thy 
presses  shall  burst  out  with  new  wine." — Prov. 
iii.  9,  10.  "  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the 
storehouse,  that  there  may  be  meat  in  mine 
house,  and  prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  win- 
dows of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing, 
that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive 
it."— Mai.  iii.  10. 

Now,  in  these  Bible  words,  may  be  discov- 
ered the  true  and  right  ivay,  or  system  of 
'' church  financed  But,  it  seems,  "few  there 
be  that  find  it;"  on  this  right  way  we  see  only 
"  here  and  there  a  traveler,"  while  on  the 
wrong  way   "  thousands  walk  together  there." 

"  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest?" 
asked  Philip  of  the  Ethiopian  as  he  beheld  him 
reading  the  Prophet  Isaiah.  "  How  can  I,  ex- 
cept some  man  guide  me?"  was  the  answer. 
So  now,  reader,  we  ask:  *' Understandest  thou 
what  you  have  just  been  reading  from  Christ, 


What  is  Needed  f  75 

the  Prophets,  and  the  Apostles?"  If  you  an- 
swer, "How  can  I,  except  some  man  guide  me?" 
then,  we  beseech  you,  hearken,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing chapters  we  will  endeavor  to  make  plctin 
to  you  the  sacred  words;  will  try  to  state  dis- 
tinctly, explain,  and  emphasize,  the  most  im- 
portant teachings  thereof  ;  and  those  teachings 
will  constitute  the  remaining  "  Points  "  of  our 
subject. 


CHAPTEK  VII. 


WHO  SHOULD  GIVE ;  AND  WHEN ;   OR,    HOW 
FREQUENTLY. 


THIRTEENTH   POINT:— As    to    who    should  give, 

"  every  one,''  says  Moses :    "  every  one  of  you,'^ 
says  Paul. 

No  one  is  excepted.  All  must  give  some- 
thing, according  to  the  Bible  rule.  Here  we 
will  adopt  the  words  of  another,  who  pertinently 
says:  "  It  is  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of 
the  Gospel,  that  it  magnifies  the  individual. 
Before  Christ,  men  had  been  touched  in  masses ; 
but  the  Gospel  quickened  individual  hearts. 
Making  the  individual  the  unit,  it  seeks  to  per- 
meate the  mass  through  its  influence  upon  the 
integers.  *  *  *  This  being  the  case,  it 
will  follow  that  religious  duties  belong  to  the 
individual  more  than  to  the  society  or  family. 
No  priest  can  officiate  for  his  people,  nor  no  father 
for  his  children.  The  Gospel  knows  nothing 
about  such  vicarious  service.  Each  one  must 
76 


Who,  When,  Howf  11 

give  an  account  for  himself.  Tiirough  neglect 
of  this  teaching,  our  church  finances  have 
fallen  into  disorder.  Instead  of  receiving  sup- 
port from  '  every  one'  of  its  members,  the 
church  has  relied  upon  the  contributions  of  the 
few.  Take  any  one  of  our  churches  and  it  will 
be  found  that  only  about  one  in  five  is  a  regu- 
lar contributor  to  its  funds.  The  father  gives 
for  the  entire  family,  and  often  for  the  families 
of  sons  and  sons-in-law."  And,  indeed,  "  em- 
barrassed finances  is  not  the  only  evil  resulting 
from  this  departure  from  the  Divine  Word. 
We  have  already  seen  that  the  Gospel  seeks 
the  development  of  the  individual.  This  can 
only  be  done  as  every  member  of  the  Church  is 
made  to  feel  his  individual  responsibility,  and 
to  engage  actively  in  the  discharge  of  the  du- 
ties growing  out  of  it.  So  that  when  a  hus- 
band gives  for  his  Avife,  or  a  father  for  his 
children,  he  helps  to  dwarf  their  spiritual  lives 
and  prevents  that  fulness  and  roundness  of 
Christian  character  contemplated  by  the  Gos- 
pel. As  it  is  individual  believing  that  first 
wakens  the  new  life  in  the  soul,  so  it  is  by  in- 
dividual  working  and   individual  giving   that 


78  Church  Finance. 

life  is    to    be  promoted  and   the   full    stature 

of    a    perfect  roan    in    Christ  Jesus    at    last 
attained." 


FOURTEENTH  POINT:— As  to  the  time  or  frequency 
of  giving,  "  On  the  first  day  of  the  loeek  "  is  the 
Divine  direction. 

Do  not  subscribe  so  much  to  be  paid  yearly, 
or  quarterly,  or  even  monthly,  Paul  would  say, 
but  pay  it  weekly ;  or  at  least  lay  by  the  weekly 
quota,  set  it  aside  each  week,  even  if  you  should 
wait  until  several  weekly  contributions  have 
accumulated  before  you  cast  them  into  the  treas- 
ury. The  "  envelope  system,"  which  is  now 
being  extensively  adopted,  and  which  provides 
for  all  the  members  casting  their  contributions 
into  the  Lord's  treasury  each  Sabbath,  or  at  all 
events,  each  month,  fully  conforms  to  this  in- 
junction of  Paul,  and  is  certainly  an  excellent 
plan.  Indeed,  "  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
upon  practical  matters,  the  teachings  of  the 
Spirit  so  uniformly  agree  with  common  sense. 
It  is  easier  to  make  up  a  large  amount  in  small 
sums  than  to  pay  it  all  at  once."  "  By  making 
our  contributions  for  the  Lord's  service  weekly, 


Wlio,  When,  Howf  79 

a  handsome  amount  would  be  contributed  dur- 
ing tiie  year  without  inconvenience.  On  the 
contrary,  if  the  subscription  is  allowed  to  run 
to  the  end  of  the  year,  or  quarter,  all  thought 
of  paying  it  is  put  off  until  it  is  fully  due," — 
and,  perhaps,  a  good  deal  longer  than  that — 
"  and  then  the  person  finds  it  difficult  to  make 
up  the  amount,  and  in  doing  so  often  feels  bur- 
dened and  grieved.  What  ought  to  have  been 
a  part  of  his  weekly  service,  and  an  actual  de- 
light, if  left  to  the  end  of  the  year,  is  looked 
upon  as  the  payment  of  a  debt,  for  which  he 
has  no  tangible  equivalent."  Better,  vastly 
better,  than  the  now  common  plan,  is  this  Bible 
way  of  weekly  giving,  or  paying  rather,  for 
what  the  people  cast  into  the  Lord's  treasury — 
especially  that  for  the  support  of  their  own 
church, — is  not  a  gift  but  the  payment  of  a 
debt.  If  it  is  objected  to  the  plan  of  weekly 
payments  that  it  is  difficult  always  to  procure 
and  pay  the  exact  weekly  amount,  it  is  sufficient 
to  answer  that  people  can  go  to  a  theater,  a 
skating  rink,  or  a  show, — some  can  go  once  a 
week,  or  almost  every  night — and  can  always 
arrange  to  have  the  exact  amount  of  change  for 


80  Church  Finance. 

admittance,  or  can  get  their  bills  changed ;  and 
when  Christian  people  learn  to  take  as  much 
interest  in  preparing  for  meeting  the  financial 
demands  of  God's  house  and  ordinances,  as  is 
taken  for  preparing  for  the  demands  of  places 
of  amusement,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
adjusting  this  little  matter,  so  that  "  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,"  they  can  always  cast  into  the 
treasury  what  they  owe  to  the  Lord. 

A  few  years  ago  when  I  first  met  with  the 
"  Mission  Band,"  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Mo.,  where 
I  pleasantly  spent  the  first  three  and  a  half 
years  after  my  ordination  to  the  ministry,  I 
was  asked  by  the  good  woman  in  charge  to 
talk  awhile  to  the  children;  and  I  spoke  to 
them  of  the  privilege  of  doing  something  for 
the  Master's  cause,  and  presented  examples  and 
illustrations  of  the  great  good  accomplished  by 
money  given  by  little  children.  Then  their 
president  called  for  their  contributions,  and 
as  the  plate  was  passed  around,  a  little  boy 
who  had  become  interested  but  had  nothing 
to  give,  at  least  not  so  much  as  he  thought  he 
ought  to  give,  leaned  over  and  said  to  his 
neighbor:   "I  wish  I  had  my  other  vest  on." 


Who,  When,  How  9  81 

"Why,  Charlie,  do  you  wish  you  had  your 
other  vest  on?"  he  was  asked;  and  he 
answered,  "because  I  have  fifty  cents  in  its 
pocket,  and,  if  I  had  it,  I  would  give  it  all." 
Now,  the  little  boy  could  be  excused,  at  least 
for  that  once.  But  let  Christian  people  take 
proper  interest  in  the  ordinances  of  God's 
house;  let  them  exercise  forethought  and  pre- 
pare for  the  financial  demands  thereof — let 
them  learn,  when  going  to  church,  always  to 
put  their  "  other  vest  on,"  and  all  will  be  well 
and  satisfactory  and  there  will  be  no  trouble  in 
meeting  the  weekly  requirement. 


CHAPTER    YIII. 


THE    MANNKK    OK    CIVIXG. 


FIFTEEXTH  POIXT.—All  uirimj  ahouU  be  (7x  imfo 
the  Lord,  and  t'.i^pnftsire  of  lore  luul  grntitude 
to  Him  for  ijiring  crcii  Iliiiistlf  ii  raimoin  for 
its. 

When  tlie  oliuroh  at  homo  is  in  iuhhI  of 
money — and  it  always  needs  more  or  k^ss — it 
shonkl  be  understood  that  it  is  the  Lord 
Clirist  and  his  cause  that  is  in  need;  when  the 
ehureh  needs  funds  to  prosecute  the  work 
abroad — ami  when  does  it  not? — it  shoukl  be 
remembered  that  it  is  Christ  and  his  cause 
that  is  in  need;  and,  the  mere  existence  of  any 
such  need  is  a  call  from  Christ  for  our  aid  and 
gifts.  In  every  call  of  the  heathen,  '*  come 
over  and  help  us,''  in  every  cry  of  the  needy 
saints,  for  assistance,  in  the  appeals  of  every 
true  object  of  charity.  Christians  should  recog- 
nize the  voice  of  their  crucitietl  Lord  and 
Savior,    and    surely   they   should  respond  with 


Manner  of  Giving.  83 

thoir  best  ^ifts,  giving  as  uritrj  him  direct, 
knowing/  that  ho  will  receive  and  acknowledge, 
and  reward  it  as  unto  him;  for,  at  that  last 
great  day,  v\ Ijen  (tv(tiy  one  "  shall  be  judged  ac- 
cording i()  the  deeds  done  in  the  Vjody,"  then 
shall  the  King  say  unto  those  on  his  right 
hand,  "come  ye  blessed  of  my  father,  inherit 
tlie  kingdf>rjj  prepared  for  you  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world;  for  I  was  an  hungered 
and  ye  gave  me  meat,  I  was  thirsty  and  ye 
gave  me  drink.  *  *  *  Then  shall  the  right- 
eous answer  him  saying.  When  saw  we  thee 
an  hungered  and  fed  thee?  or  thirsty  and  gave 
thee  drink?  *  *  *  And  the  King  shall 
answer  and  say  unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these,  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it 
unto  me;"  while  to  those  on  his  left  hand 
he  shall  say:  "  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into 
everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels;  for  J.  was  an  hungered  and  ye  gave  me 
no  meat;  I  was  thirsty  and  ye  gave  me  no 
drink.  *  *  *  Then  shall  they  also  answer 
him  saying,  Lord  when  saw  we  thee  an  hun- 
gered     *     *     *    and   did   not   minister    unto 


84  Church  Finance, 

thee?  Then  shall  he  answer  them  saying, 
Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  ye  did  it  not 
to  me.-' — Matt.  xxv.  34-45. 

Oh,  let  these  facts  be  properly  considered, 
that  all  the  financial  calls  of  the  church,  at 
home  and  abroad,  are  calls  from  Christ,  and 
that  the  gifts  given  thereto,  or  withheld  there- 
from, are  really  given  or  withheld  from  him, 
and  will  so  be  recognized  and  rewarded  by 
him,  and  what  a  powerful  motive  they  will  be 
to  incite  to  the  duty  of  giviug!  Then,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  proper  consideration  of  these 
facts,  let  all  that  Christ  has  done,  and  given 
for  his  people,  be  remembered  and  rightly  ap- 
preciated by  them ;  thus  let  their  gratitude  be 
enkindled,  and  will  they  not  delight  to  give 
expression  thereof  by  their  most  liberal  gifts? 
Will  they  not  be  stirred  up  to  bring  their 
offerings  and  cast  them  into  the  treasury  until 
it  is  filled,  and  every  want  supplied?  Thus 
the  Apostle  Paul,  in  urging  the  church  at 
Corinth  to  give  a  generous  contribution  for  the 
poor  saints  at  Jerusalem,  appealed  to  their 
sense  of  gratitude;   reminded   them   of    what 


Manner  of  Giving.  85 

Christ  had  done  for  them.  "  Though  he  was 
rich,"  exclaimed  the  Apostle,  "  yet  for  your 
sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye,  through  his 
poverty  might  be  rich."  Yes,  let  Christians 
think  on  these  things;  let  every  church  and 
every  professor  be  aroused  by  the  same  appeal 
of  the  Apostle,  and  never  refuse  to  give 
generously  of  their  means — even  to  make 
great  sacrifices,  if  needed,  in  order  to  advance 
the  cause  of  him  who  so  freely  gave,  and  did 
so  much  for  them.  Let  Christians  ever 
remember  that  their  Lord  and  Savior  expects  of 
them  gifts  expressive  of,  and  commensurate 
with,  tiieir  love  and  gratitude  to  him.  Let 
them  imagine  their  Savior  addressing  them  in 
these  words  which  Miss  F.  R.  Havergal  well 
represents  him  as  speaking,  and  certainly  their 
hearts  will  be  touched,  their  gratitude  will  be 
aroused,  and  they  will  be  incited  to  greater 
faithfulness  in  giving  of  their  means  to  express 
their  love,  and  to  promote  his  cause: 

"I  gave  my  life  for  thee  ; 

My  precious  blood  I  shed, 
That  thou  might' st  ransomed  be, 

And  quickened  from  the  dead. 
I  gave,  I  gave  my  Hfe  for  thee; 

What  hast  thou  given  for  me?'* 


86  Church  Finance. 

What  answer,  what  answers  would  appear  if 
those  of  every  member  of  the  average  cliurch 
were  written  trutlifully  and  reported  at  the 
close  of  each  of  these  stanzas?  What  a  shame- 
ful record  it  would  be! 

"My  Father's  house  of  light— 

My  glory-circled  throne 
I  left  for  earthly  night, 

For  wandering  sad  and  lone ; 
I  left,  I  left  it  all  to  thee; 

Hast  thou  left  aught  for  me? 

I  suffered  much  for  thee. 

More  than  thy  tongue  can  tell, 

Of  bitterest  agony. 

To  rescue  thee  from  hell ; 

I've  borne,  I've  borne  it   all   for  thee  ; 
What  hast  thou  borne  for  me? 

And  I  have  brought  to  thee, 

Down  from  my  home  above, 
Salvation  full  and  free, 

My  pardon  and  my  love  ; 
I  bring,  I  bring  rich  gifts  to  thee  ; 

What  hast  thou  brought  to  me  ?'* 


Manner  of  Giving.  87 

SIXTEENTH  POINT:— Again,  as  to  the  manner  of 
giving,  it  should  he  i^einemhei-ed  that,  to  con- 
form to  the  Bible  idea,  it  must  be  regarded  and 
practiced  as  an  act  of  icorship. 

Because  it  is  to  be  engaged  in  as  an  act  of 
worsliip  it  is  recommended  as  a  Sabbath  day's 
service.  Because  of  the  growing  sentiment, 
throughout  the  church,  on  this  subject  these 
days,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church,  at  its  meeting  in  Cincinnati,  last 
May,  was  overtured  by  many  Presbyteries  to 
amend  our  Directory  of  Worship  in  regard  to 
this  matter,  so  as  to  cause  it  to  be  more  gen- 
erally understood  that  giving  is  to  be  regarded 
and  regularly  engaged  in  as  an  act  of  wor- 
ship. And,  in  view  of  these  overtures,  which 
it  should  be  said  really  originated  with  the 
Assembly's  Permanent  Committee  on  System- 
atic Beneficence,  the  Assembly  has  submitted 
to  a  vote  of  the  Presbyteries  the  question, 
whether  an  entire  new  chapter  on  "The  Wor- 
ship of  God  by  Offerings "  shall  be  added  to 
our  Directory  of  Worship.  And,  no  doubt,  the 
constitutional  majority  of  our  Presbyteries 
will  answer,  "Yes."  The  proposed  new  chap- 
ter is  as  follows: 


88  Church  Finance. 

1.  In  order  that  every  member  of  the  con- 
gregation may  be  trained  to  give  oi  his  sub- 
stance systematically,  and  as  the  Lord  hath 
prospered  him,  to  promote  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  in  all  the  world  and  to  every  creature, 
according  to  the  command  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  it  is  proper  and  very  desirable  that  an 
opportunity  be  given  for  offerings  by  the  con- 
gregation in  this  behalf  every  Lord's  Day, 
and  that,  in  accordance  with  the  Scriptures,  the 
brino^ino^  of  such  offerino^s  be  re  Guarded  as  a 
solemn  act  of  worship  to  Almighty  God. 

2.  The  proper  order,  both  as  to  the  particu- 
lar service  of  the  day,  and  the  place  in  such 
service  for  receiving  the  offerings,  may  be  left 
to  the  minister  and  session  of  the  church ;  but 
that  it  may  be  a  separate  and  specific  act  of 
worship,  the  minister  should  either  precede  or 
immediately  follow  the  same  with  a  brief 
prayer,  invoking  the  blessing  of  God  upon  it, 
and  devoting  the  offerings  to  his  service. 

3.  The  offerings  received  may  be  appor- 
tioned among  the  Boards  of  the  church,  and 
among  other  benevolent  and  Christian  objects, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  church  session,  in 
such  proportion  and  upon  such  general  j^lan  as 
may,  from  time  to  time,  be  determined;  but 
the  specific  designation  by  the  giver  of  any 
offering  to  any  given    cause  or  causes,   shall 


Manner  of  Giving.  89 

always  be  respected,  and  the  will  of  the  donor 
carefully  carried  out. 

4.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  minister  to  culti- 
vate the  grace  of  liberal  giving  in  his  congre- 
gation, that  every  member  thereof  may  offer 
according  to  his  ability,  whether  it  be  much  or 
little. 

Surely,  a  becoming  appreciation  of  these 
articles,  and  a  general  and  hearty  adoption  of 
them,  will  be  productive  of  much  good,  and 
will  emphasize  the  Bible  idea  of  giving  as  an 
act  of  worship.  Without  question  this  is  the 
Bible  idea  of  giving.  When  Jesus  was  born 
in  Bethlehem  of  Judea  "  the  Wise  Men  from 
the  East,"  his  first  worshipers,  on  coming  and 
beholding  the  young  child,  fell  down  and 
worshiped  him,  and  "presented  unto  him 
gifts,  gold,  frankincense  and  myrrh."  "Bring 
an  offering  and  come  into  his  courts,"  says  the 
ninety-sixth  Psalm.  So  the  sweet  singer  of 
Israel  did  not  look  upon  singing  as  the  whole  of 
worship;  he  recognized  the  presentation  of 
offerings  as  a  part.  "  Thy  prayers  and  thine 
alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God," 
said  the  angel  that,  in  a  vision,  spoke  to  the 
devout  Cornelius.     So  God  and  his  angels  do 


90  Church  Finance. 

not  regard  prayer  as  all  of  worship.  Doing 
of  alms,  giving,  comes  up  before  them  as 
a  memorial  and  as  a  sweet  smelling  savour. 
This  part  of  worship,  giving,  is  as  important, 
and  is  as  well  pleasing  in  God's  sight,  as 
any  other  part;  but,  indeed,  it  may  not  be 
the  most  popular  part  with  most  congrega- 
tions and  individuajs.  Many,  very  many, 
much  prefer  prayer;  take  more  delight  in  say- 
ing, "  Thy  kingdom  come,"  "  Send  forth  thy 
Word  into  all  the  world,"  than  in  casting  such 
offerings  into  the  treasury  as  are  necessary  to 
send  forth  the  word,  and  to  hasten  the  coming 
of  the  kingdom.  Many  others,  again,  no 
doubt,  much  prefer  the  service  of  song, — Avould 
rather  "  sit  and  sing  themselves  away  to  ever- 
lasting bliss,"  than  cast  their  coin  into  the 
treasury  to  save  lost  souls  from  death  and  enable 
them  to  sing  the  "song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb."  It  is  an  evil,  and  one  exceedingly 
great,  that  from  so  many  sanctuaries  this  part 
of  worship,  that  of  giving,  has  been  so  largely 
banished.  From  the  beginning,  wherever 
there  was  acceptable  worship,  it  was  not  so; 
and  the  church  must,  if  it  would  prosper,  get 


Manner  of  Giving.  91 

back  to  the  old  paths  and  the  better  way. 
"  The  very  first  act  of  worship/'  as  one  puts  it, 
"  recorded  in  the  Bible,  was  in  connection  with 
an  offering  to  the  Lord.  And,  later,  when 
Noah  and  his  family  had  been  preserved  in  the 
midst  of  a  general  destruction,  we  see  him  wor- 
shiping God  in  connection  with  an  offering; 
and  God  was  so  well  pleased  with  his  worship 
that  he  promised  never  to  destroy  the  earth 
again  with  a  flood.  With  the  institution  of 
worship  in  the  tabernacle,  and  later  in  the 
temple,  it  was  expected  of  the  worshipers  that 
they  would  present  themselves  with  an  offering. 
Still  later,  when  the  temple  had  fallen  out  of 
repair,  through  the  neglect  of  Athaliah  and  his 
sons,  Jehoiada,  the  priest,  had  a  chest  placed 
near  the  altar  of  sacrifice  into  which  the  wor- 
shipers dropped  their  money  for  the  repair  of 
the  house.  Along  side  of  the  altar,  on  which 
the  type  of  the  lamb  of  God  was  offered,  stood 
the  chest  for  the  offerings  of  the  people,  so 
that  when  their  prayers  were  ascending  to 
heaven,  the  ring  of  their  shekels  was  heard 
before  the  altar,  giving  evidence  of  their  sin- 
cerity and  honesty.     But  we,  in  this  age,  have 


92  Church  Finance. 

largely  divorced  giving  from  worship.  We 
have  been  trying  to  worship  God  in  a  different 
w^ay  from  that  which  he  has  marked  out  for  us." 
To  the  public  announcements  for  church 
services  we  now  sometimes  see,  or  hear,  the 
attachment,  "no  collection.""  Concerning  this 
custom,  the  Preshijterian,  of  Philadelphia, 
recently  made  a  very  happy  deliverance,  in  which 
it  characterized  it  as  "absurd,"  and  said,  with 
other  things:  "Obviously,  the  design  is  to  stimu- 
late the  attendance  of  the  stingy.  *  *  *  If 
this  innovation  is  to  prevail  to  any  appreciable 
extent,  other  concessions  must  be  made  to  the 
skeptical  classes.  Hence,  future  church  notices 
may  read:  No  collection,  no  sermon,  no 
prayer,  no  Bible,  and  no  pronounced  religious 
convictions  of  any  description."  But,  we 
should  be  grateful  for  the  fact,  that  throughout 
all  tlie  Evangelical  churches,  with  the  better 
element,  there  is  a  growing  sentiment  in  favor 
of  making  the  service  of  the  offering  of  gifts  a 
regular  part  of  public  worship,  in  keeping  with 
the  requirements  of  God's  law.  And  may  God 
hasten  the  day  when,  everywhere,  this  custom 
shall  prevail. 


Manner  of  Giving.  93 

SEVENTEENTH  POINT :— Once  more,  as  to  the  man- 
ner of  giving,  it  must  be  remembered  that  it 
should  be  with  a  ivilling  and  cheerful  spirit. 

It  was  Kowland  Hill,  if  we  mistake  not,  that 
said  it  lie  could  get  hold  of  them,  he  would 
like  to  hang  many  Christians;  i.  e.,  he  said  he 
would  like  to  hang  them  up  by  their  heels  so 
that  their  money  would  drop  out  of  their 
pockets!  Well,  when  men  have  to  be  hanged 
in  that  way ,  or  when  they  have  to  be  impor- 
tuned, and  coaxed,  and  almost  compelled  to 
give,  their  gifts  may  do  good  to  their  recipi- 
ents, but  the  donors  will  receive  but  little  if 
any,  credit  from  him  who  looks  at  the  heart  as 
well  as  at  the  treasury.  It  is  giving  with  a 
willing  and  cheerful  heart  that  is  pleasing  to 
God;  and,  indeed,  it  is  only  when  there  is  a 
willing  and  cheerful  heart  and  an  appreciation 
of  God's  house,  and  of  all  his  benefits,  that 
there  is  anything  like  liberal  giving.  There 
are  many  illustrations  of  such  giving  in  the 
Scriptures.  For  example,  concerning  the 
building  of  the  temple,  David  said:  ''Because 
I  have  set  my  affection  to  the  house  of  my 
God,  I  have,  of  my  own  proper  good,  of  gold 


94  Church  Finance. 

and  silver  which  I  have  given  to  the  house  of 
my  God,  over  and  above  all  that  I  have  pre- 
pared for  the  holy  house,  even  three  thousand 
talents  of  gold,  of  the  gold  of  Ophir,  and  seven 
thousand  talents  of  refined  silver,"  etc.  We  also 
read:  "Then  the  chief  of  the  fathers  and  the 
princes  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  and  the  captains 
of  thousands  and  of  hundreds,  with  the  rulers 
of  the  king's  work,  offered  willingly,  and  gave,< 
for  the  service  of  the  house  of  God,  of  gold, 
five  thousand  talents  and  ten  thousand  drams, 
and  of  silver,  ten  thousand  talents,"  etc.,  etc. 
Then  the  people  rejoiced  for  that  they  offered 
willingly  to  the  Lord.  Think  of  it  Christians — 
for  example,  ye  members  of  our  communion, 
six  hundred  thousand  strong;  many,  too,  of 
kingly  wealth,  but  whose  combined  gifts  for  all 
benevolent ^hurch  work  for  a  whole  year, 
according  to  our  Assembly's  minutes,  have 
never  amounted  to  but  little  over  $10,000,000! 
Think  of  it,  the  free  and  willing  offering  which 
King  David  alone,  on  a  single  occasion,  gave 
to  the  Lord's  cause  amounted  to  the  equivalent 
of  about  $18,000,000  of  our  money!  And  in 
addition,  think  the  combined  contributions  of 


Manner  oj  Giving.  95 


his  people,  on  that  single  day,  exceeded 
000,000!  Oh,  hang  your  heads,  hide  your 
faces,  and  blush,  ye  who  live  in  a  better  day 
and  assume  the  name  of  David's  Lord!  Again, 
when  Moses  commanded  the  congregation  to 
bring  their  gifts  for  the  tabernacle,  "they  came 
every  one  whose  heart  stirred  him  up,  and 
every  one  whom  his  spirit  made  willing,  and 
they  brought  the  Lord's  offering  to  the  work 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  for 
all  his  service,  and  for  tiie  garments.  And 
they  came,  both  men  and  women,  as  many  as 
were  willing-hearted,  and  brought  bracelets 
and  ear-rings,  and  rings  and  tablets,  all  jewels 
of  gold.  *  *  And  all  the  women  that  were  wise- 
hearted  did  spin  with  their  hands,  and  brought 
that  which  they  had  spun.*  *  *  And  the 
rulers  brought  onyx  stones.  *  *  The  chil- 
dren of  Israel  brought  a  willing  offering  unto 
the  Lord,  every  man  and  woman  whose  heart 
made  them  willing  to  bring  for  all  manner  of 
work  which  the  Lord  had  commanded  to  be 
made  by  the  hands  of  Moses,  until  they  were 
restrained  from  bringing;  for  the  stuff  they 
had  was  sufficient  for  all  the  work  to  make  it, 


96  Church  Finance. 

and  too  much!  "  Oh,  for  such  a  spirit,  for  such 
a  willing  and  cheerful  heart  among  God's  peo- 
ple of  this  latter  dispensation !  But,  alas!  what 
a  change  there  will  have  to  be  before  the  gifts 
of  the  Christians  of  this  age  are  "sufficient  and 
too  much"  for  the  work  of  the  church  and  the 
demands  of  the  times! 

Nothing  more  ought  to  be  needed  to  confirm 
and  emphasize  this  point  as  to  willing  and 
cheerful  giving  than  those  words  of  St.  Paul: 
"Every  man  according  as  he  purposeth  in  his 
heart,  so  let  him  give;  not  grudgingly,  or  of 
necessity;  for  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver." 


CHAPTEK    IX. 


THE    MEASURE    OF    GIVING. 


EIGHTEENTH  POINT  :—As  to  the  Measure  of  giv- 
ing, it  should  he  remembered,  that  it  should  be 
^'proportionate.''^ 

While  it  is  very  generally  conceded  that 
giving  should  be  "proportionate,"  yet  many 
seem  to  have  indefinite  and  very  strange  no- 
tions as  to  what  that  means.  For  example,  we 
have  been  told,  by  good  authority,  of  a  certain 
man  who,  a  few  years  ago,  gave  the  session  of 
his  church  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in  different 
ways.  And  one  thing  of  which  they  com- 
plained was  that  he  neglected  his  duty  in  re- 
gard to  contributing  for  the  support  of  the 
church.  Finally,  one  day,  when  members  of 
the  session  were  taking  him  to  task  for  his  neg- 
lect of  this  duty,  and  were  urging  him  to  do 
better  in  the  matter,  he  began  to  advocate  the 
principles  of  "proportionate"  giving,  and  to 
their  astonishment,  boldly  insisted  that  he  was 
7  97 


98  Church  Finance. 

doing  exceedingly  well,  and  that  proportion- 
ately he  was  in  the  habit  of  giving  more  than 
any  other  member  of  the  church;  but,  when 
they  joined  issue  with  him,  and  undertook  to 
prove  the  contrary,  he  explained  that  he  meant 
that,  "in  proportion  to  his  religion,"  he  gave 
more  than  any  other  member  of  fthe  church, 
which,  perhaps,  the  session,  in  view  of  all  their 
experience  with  him,  would  readily  admit.  Now, 
although  that  is  an  "  Ohio  Idee,"  for  the  man 
was  a  "Buckeye,"  it  is  not  the  correct  idea  of  pro- 
portionate giving .  If,  indeed,  it  is  said,  persons 
give  in  proportion  to  their  religion,  there  may 
be  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  that;  but  the  ques- 
tion is,  how  ought  they  to  give  ?  And  the  answer 
is,  they  ought  to  give  in  proportion  to  their 
means;  or,  more  exactly,  in  proportion  to  their 
income  or  increase.  "According  to  the  bless- 
ings of  the  Lord  thy  God  which  he  hath  given 
thee,"  as  Moses  has  it;  "as  God  hath  prospered 
you,"  as  it  is  expressed  by  Paul.  God  gives 
men  a  loan  of  so  much  money,  or  other  means, 
for  all  comes  from  him;  some  he  gives  a  large 
loan,  and  some  but  a  small  one;  but  whatever 
amount  is  received,   each  one  is  to  use  it  as 


Measure  of  Giving.  99 

a  loan,  and  to  pay  back  to  God,  for  religious  and 
benevolent  purposes,  a  per  cent  of  the  increase 
realized  on  the  loan.  This  is  simple;  everybody 
ought  to  be  able  to  understand  this  Bible  prin- 
ciple. There  is  no  Bible  authority  whatever 
for  the  common  custom  of  using  for  self,  what- 
ever a  person  seems  to  have  need  of,  and  then 
if  there  is  anything  left,  and  generally  there 
is  not,  give  that  to  the  Lord;  just  as  though 
the  Lord  was  to  be  treated  like  the  dogs 
that  get  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the  table! 
The  simple  and  clear  Bible  rule  is,  that  a  part 
of  every  man's  income  and  every  woman's  in- 
come and  every  child's  income,  is  the  Lord's, 
and  ought  to  be  cast  into  his  treasury.  If 
one's  income  is  large,  his  gifts  ought  to  be  pro- 
portionately so ;  if  his  income  is  small,  his  gifts 
may  be  likewise.  As  in  the  case  of  the  build- 
ing of  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple,  all  gave 
of  whatever  they  had,  and  whatever  they  could, 
so  it  must  ever  be. 

Some  one  has  well  observed  that  care  must 
be  taken  that  our  Aveekly  contributions  do  not 
become  weakly.  Ah,  yes,  they  often  do.  If 
persons  ^re  less  for    Christ's   omniscient  eye 


100  Church  Finance. 

than  for  man's,  they  can  about  as  well  drop  a. 
mere  trifle  into  the  basket  as  a  respectable 
amount,  and  they  will  very  likely  do  it.  Here 
is  a  specimen  case:  In  a  certain  church,  they 
are  in  the  habit  of  regularly  taking  up  a  collec- 
tion immediately  after  prayers ;  and  they  kneel 
in  prayer.  One  Sabbath  morning  a  couple  of 
ladies  did  not  observe  the  usual  custom  of 
kneeling,  but  leaned  forward  and  rested  their 
heads  on  the  back  of  a  pew,  and,  hearing  a 
man  in  front  of  them  handling  his  money,  they 
were  undevout  enough  to  open  their  eyes.  And 
they  saw  the  man,  who  possessed  considerable 
of  this  world's  goods,  on  his  knees,  with  a  well- 
filled  pocket-book  in  his  hands.  He  opened  it; 
carefully  examined  the  contents ;  then  put  his 
fingers  into  it,  shoved  aside  the  bills  and  larger 
coin ;  went  down,  down  to  the  bottom ;  looked 
close  and  sharp  until  he  got  liold  of  a  cent, 
wliich  he  pulled  out  and  held  in  his  hand  as  a 
<rift  to  God  for  all  his  benefits.  And  with  that 
in  his  hand,  he  began  to  respond  to  the  minis- 
ter's prayer,  and  to  ''thank  the  Lord!"  After 
the  prayer  was  concluded,  the  pastor  informed 
the  congregation  that  it  was  not  the  usual  col- 


Measure  of  Giving.  101 

lection,  but  a  special  one  that  was  to  be  taken 
up  that  morning.  It  was  to  be  for  a  very- 
important  object,  and  he  exhorted  the  people  to 
exhibit  in  their  contributions  an  unusual  degree 
of  liberality.  The  heart  of  our  zealous  hero  was 
touched.  Again  he  got  out  his  pocket-book, 
and  after  maneuvering  about  through  the  bills 
and  coin  as  before,  he  drags  out  a  nickel,  and 
puts  back  the  cent;  and  even  that  he  presented 
to  his  Lord,  who  gave  his  life  for  him;  who, 
though  he  was  rich  became  poor  that  we 
through  his  poverty  might  become  rich!  Per- 
haps that  man  has  no  full  brothers  or  sisters 
anywhere.  But  he  has  a  good  many  half  broth- 
ers and  sisters,  a  great  host  of  cousins,  and  of 
his  second  cousins  there  is  no  end! 

In  connection  with  the  idea  of  frequent, 
even  weekly  giving,  the  Scriptural  idea  of 
proportion,  "  as  God  hath  prospered,"  must  be 
insisted  upon.  "Mites"  will  be  acceptable 
from  poor  widows,  and  from  others  equally 
destitute;  but  as  to  those  whose  means  or  in- 
come is  greater,  small  mites  from  them  are 
mockeries. 

A  rich  man  was  once  asked  to  contribute  to 


102  Church  Finance, 

some  benevolent  object,  and  lie  answered  as 
many  do,  "Oh,  yes,  I  will  give  my  mite." 
"You  mean  the  widow's  mite,  I  suppose?"  was 
the  solicitor's  reply.  "Yes,"  he  answered. 
"Very  well;  how  much  are  you  worth?"  he 
was  next  asked;  and,  after  hesitating  awhile, 
he  had  to  reply,  "about  seventy  thousand  dol- 
lars." "  Oh,  well,"  said  the  solicitor,  "  I  will 
accept  one-half  the  widow's  mite  from  you;  she 
gave  '  all  she  had ; '  give  me  but  thirty-five  thou- 
sand dollars,  sir,  one-half  of  what  you  have, 
and  I  will  be  satisfied."  But  he  wouldn't  do 
it!  "To  whom  much  is  given,  of  them  much 
will  be  required,"  is  the  Bible  principle.  When, 
year  after  year,  one's  income  becomes  greater 
and  greater,  even  so,  year  by  year,  his  gifts 
should  become  greater  and  greater  proportion- 
ately. 

But  what  proportion  of  income  ought  to  be 
given?  God  gives  a  loan,  and  wants  interest 
on  it  to  be  paid  back  into  his  treasury;  but 
what  interest  does  he  require?  what  per  cent 
of  their  income  are  God's  people  to  give  for  the 
Lord's  cause?  That  is  the  next  question  for 
our  consideration. 


Measure  of  Giving.  103 

NINETEENTH  POINT: —All  Christians  ought  to 
give  to  the  Lord's  treasury  not  less  than  one- 
tenth  of  all  their  income.  By  this  we  mean  that 
under  no  circumstances  should  they  give  less 
than  one-tenth,  and  under  favorable  circum- 
stances, and  during  special  emergencies  they 
ought  to  give  much  more  than  that. 

This  idea  that  all  Christians  ought  to  give  to 
the  Lord  at  least  "one-tenth"  is  gaining  favor 
these  times,  and  is  being  adopted  more  and  more, 
year  by  year,  though  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
more  adopt  it  in  theory  than  in  practice.  As 
evidence  of  the  growing  sentiment,  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  of  the  extensive  acceptation  of  the 
"tithe"  principle  as  applying  to  Christians,  it 
may  be  here  observed  that  a  most  excellent  and 
eminent  divine  having  been  asked  recently  to 
express  himself  on  the  question  through  the 
press,  hesitated  to  let  his  views  be  known,  as 
they  were  adverse  to  the  "tithe,"  lest,  as  he  said, 
they  "might  not  be  accepted  as  orthodox." 
So,  too,  at  the  meeting  of  a  Synod  last  fall  after 
a  good  Secretary  of  a  Mission  Board  had  made 
an  excellent  speech,  he  was  asked  to  express 
himself  on  the  "tithe"  question;  now,  he  had 
formerly  spoken  against  the  theory,  though  the 


104  Church  Finance. 

brother  who  called  him  out  at  the  Synod  may 
not  have  known  that;  and  he  likewise  for  awhile 
hesitated,  but  finally  he  said  to  the  members  of 
Synod;  I  quote  from  memory,  giving,  not  the 
exact  words,  perhaps,  but  the  substance,  ex- 
actly, "  Carefully  study  your  Bibles  on  the 
subject;  then,  study  a  little  work  called  'Gold 
and  the  Gospel,'  and  the  tracts  by  Elder 
Thomas  Kane,  of  Chicago,  and  other  works  on 
the  subject,  and  doubtless  it  will  be  with  you, 
as  with  me,  that  the  more  you  study  the  sub- 
ject, the  more  will  you  be  inclined  to  accept 
the  'tithe'  system;  for  I  must  confess,  that 
the  more  thoroughly  I  have  studied  the  Bible 
concerning  the  matter  and  these  works  in  inter- 
pretation of  it,  the  more  I  am  disposed  to  accept 
it."  Now,  from  his  language,  it  cannot  be  said 
positively  that  he  is  thoroughly  converted  yet, 
but,  to  say  the  least,  it  is  evident  that  he  is 
under  conviction,  and  is  a  most  hopeful  sub- 
ject, and  if  he  will  continue  to  use  the  great 
means  of  grace,  the  study  of  the  Bible,  there 
need  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  final  result!  Evi- 
dently there  are  many  new  converts  to  this 
theory  these  days.     If  the  doctrine  was  not 


Measure  of  Giving.  105 

becoming  so  popular  and  prevalent,  no  one  wonld 
need  to  fear  that  liis  "orthodoxy"  would  be 
called  in  question  if  he  should  express  views 
contrary  thereto.  And  what  is  needed  to  insure 
a  still  more  general  acceptation  of  the  theory 
is,  that  Christians  more  carefully  and  honestly 
"study  their  Bibles  on  the  subject,"  and  such 
works  as  seek  correctly  to  interpret  it. 

That  some  definite  proportion  of  a  person's 
income  should  be  demanded  by  God  for  his  own 
cause,  since  all  comes  from  him,  is  but  reason- 
able ;  and  that  that  proportion  for  Christians, 
must  never  be  less  than  one-tenth,  is  surely  to  be 
learned  from  the  direct  teachings  of  the  Script- 
ures, and  from  necessary  inferences  therefrom. 
We  can  not  here  undertake  to  amplify  the  argu- 
ment, or  arguments,  in  favor  of  the  "  tithe  " 
system  as  applied  to  Christians;  we  will  merely 
present  the  next  four  "  Points,"  as  four  links 
of  an  argument  that,  we  think,  ought  to  be  suf- 
ficiently strong  to  bind  the  conscience  of  any 
Christian — that  has  one.  Those  who  want  fact 
upon  fact,  argument  upon  argument,  and  illus- 
tration upon  illustration  in  favor  of  this  theory, 
let  them  read  Thomas  Kane's  tracts,  which  they 


106  Church  Finance. 

* 

can  get  "gratis,  postage  paid,"  by  addressing 
him  at  310  Ashland  avenue,  Chicago,  HI.,  "Gold 
and  the  Gospel,"  the  "  Christian  Giver,"  of 
New  York  city,  Kev.  W.  T.  Wylie,  Editor,  and 
the  "series  of  tracts"  published  under  Mr. 
Wylie's  management. 

In  confirmation  of  this  "  Nineteenth  Point," 
that  Christians  certainly  ought  to  give  to  the 
Lord's  treasury  at  least  one- tenth — never  less, 
but  under  certain  circumstances,  more — of  their 
income,  Ave  will  here  then  merely  present  the 
following  four  points: 


TWENTIETH  POINT:— The  Jews  gave,  not  merely 
one  -  tenth,  but  in  all,  more  nearly  one  -  third, 
or  one-half  of  all  their  income. 

They  gave  one-tenth  for  the  support  of  their 
ministry,  the  tribe  of  Levi. — Numbers  xviii. 
21-32.  They  gave  another  tenth  for  the  feasts 
and  the  sacrifices;  then,  every  third  year,  they 
gave  another  tenth  for  the  poor,  or  possibly 
the  latter  "tithe"  named  above  was  converted 
every  third  year  into  this  "tithe,"  which  the 
Levites  shared  with  poor  foreigners,  and  with  the 
widows  and  the  fatherless. — Deut.  xiv.  28,  29. 


Measure  of  Giving.  107 

Then,  in  addition,  there  was  the  redemption 
money  for  the  first  born ;  and  the  first  fruits ; 
and  the  half-shekel  tax;  and  the  animals  for 
the  temple  service ;  and  yet,  besides  all  these, 
which  were  prescribed  by  law,  and  had  to  be 
given,  free-will  offerings  were  expected  from, 
and  were  given  by,  all  the  devout  Israelites. 
Add  all  these  items  together,  even  according  to 
the  lowest  estimates,  and  it  will  be  seen  that 
nearly  one-third,  or  one-half  of  all  the  income 
of  the  Jews  was  given  for  the  support  of  their 
religion  and  for  the  honor  of  their  God.  Would 
it  not  then  seem  from  this  alone,  that  Christians 
ought  to  give  at  least  one-tenth  for  the  support 
of  their  religion  and  the  honor  of  their  God? 


TWENTY-FIRST  POINT:— Under  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation our  obligations  to  God,  certainly,  are 
as  great,  io  say  the  least,  as  were  those  of  an- 
cient Israel,  and  the  Lord^s  treasury  to-day 
needs,  at  all  events,  as  large  supplies  of  money 
as  it  did  in  olden  times. 

Here  let  the  author  of  one  of  the  essays  in 
"  Gold  and  the  Gospel "  be  heard,  for  his  words 
are  well  chosen  and  can  not  be  gainsaid:  "Every 
reason  exists  now,  and  exists  even  in  greater 


108  Church  Finance. 

force,  for  the  giving  of  a  tenth  which  existed 
in  Jewish  times.  God  is  still  the  sovereign 
Lord  of  all,  and  therefore  to  be  honored  by  his 
creatures  in  those  gifts  he  has  bestowed  upon 
them.  Man  is  still  the  recipient  of  blessings, 
and  bound  to  show,  in  some  sensible  manner, 
his  gratitude  and  love.  The  interests  of  relig- 
ion are  to  be  upheld  in  the  world,  which  would 
quickly,  if  left  to  itself,  turn  aside  from  and 
forget  and  oppose  the  truth.  The  widow,  the 
orphan,  and  the  destitute,  are  still  among  us — 
recommended  to  us  by  that  same  God  who  gave 
them  in  charge  to  his  ancient  people.  In  one 
most  important  respect  the  need  of  a  tenth  is 
more  felt  in  the  Christian  than  it  was  in  the 
Jewish  church:  The  latter  was  not  missionary 
in  its  character — its  calling  was  merely  to  up- 
hold the  faith  among  the  chosen  people ;  while 
that  of  the  Christian  is  to  bear  the  name  of 
Christ  to  every  dark  land  of  heathenism,  and 
never  to  stay  its  labors  till  every  child  of  the 
great  common  Father  has  been  brought  home 
"to  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  his  soul."  It 
surely  is  not  to  be  thought  for  a  moment,  that 
the  time  of  God's  displaying  most  fully  his  love 


Measure  of  Giving.  109 

to  man  is  to  be  seized  on,  by  the  latter  as  the 
time  for  diminishing  the  expression  of  his  grat- 
itude; or  that  the  acknowledgments  of  God's 
sovereignty  are  to  be  less  manifest  when  he 
has  made  us  and  ours  doubly  his  own.  If  in 
that  elder  and  less  privileged  system,  men  hon- 
ored God  wdth  the  tenth — "ah,  more  nearly 
one-third,  or  one-half  " — of  their  substance,  can 
it  be  imagined  that  we,  so  much  more  favored 
than  they,  are  to  be  behind  them  in  our  grati- 
tude ?  For,  what  the  dim  cold  light  of  break- 
ing day,  struggling  with  the  mist  of  night,  is  to 
the  glorious  sun  of  noon,  such  is  Judaism  to 
Christianity. 

TWENTY-SECOND  POINT :—''  Tithing"  was  not  a 
law  peculiar  to  the  "  Mosaic  dispensation." 

Long,  long  before  the  Mosaic  law  was  pro- 
mulgated, long  before  the  Jewish  people  were 
founded  and  organized  as  a  nation,  or  church, 
this  custom  of  "  tithing  "  prevailed,  both  among 
God's  people  and  among  heathen  nations. 
Abraham,  the  "father  of  the  faithful,"  who 
lived  centuries  before  Moses,  paid  a  "  tenth  of 
all "   to  Melchisedec,  priest  of  the  Most  High 


110  Church   Finance. 

God.  Jacob  also  gave  back  to  God  a  tenth  of 
all  that  he  received.  The  custom  of  ''  tithiii":" 
is  known  also  to  have  prevailed  among  the  Ai'a- 
bians,  Pha^nicians,  Romans,  Grecians,  Cartlia- 
genians,  and  ancient  Britains.  And  the  only 
satisfactory  explanation  that  has  ever  been 
given  to  account  for  the  prevalence  of  this  cus- 
tom of  tithing  among  so  many  nations,  separ- 
ated so  widely,  is  that  it  originated  with  a  reve- 
lation from  God  which  was  handed  down  from 
one  generation  to  another,  and  carried  from  one 
nation  to  another. 

It  should  here  be  noticed,  too,  that  the  lan- 
guage used  when  tithing  is  first  mentioned  in 
the  Mosaic  law,  clearly  implies  that  it  was  sim- 
ply the  re-enactment  of  a  law  previously  given, 
and  recognized  ;  for,  tlie  words  are:  "The 
tithe  is  the  Lord's."  Truly,  "  the  use  of  the 
present  tense  forbids  us  to  suppose  that  now 
first  was  a  tenth  made  the  property  of  God ;  it 
obliges  us  to  allow  that  it  was  already  his ;  when 
he  says  of  it,  '  it  is  holy  unto  him,'  this  can  not 
signify  any  other  than  that  which  was  spoken 
of  was  already  established  when  the  words 
were  uttered."     And,  as  this  law  of  tithing  did 


Measure  of  Giving.  Ill 

not  begin  with  the  Jewish  or  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion, but  existed  long  before  that,  so  it  is  not  to 
end  with  that  dispensation,  unless  it  be  dis- 
tinctly so  revealed,  and  positively  stated;  but, 
none  will  affirm  that  such  distinct,  or  positive 
revelation  or  statement  has  been  given.  Tith- 
ing being  a  law  before  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion, it  was  merely  re-enacted — and  somewhat 
expanded — and  adopted  by  the  Jewish  church, 
and  is  to  continue  in  principle  and  substance 
throughout  this  latter  dispensation.  Notice, 
here,  that  one-tenth  was  given  by  Abraham  and 
Jacob,  and  others,  before  Moses'  time,  then,  by 
the  law  of  Moses,  there  were  other  tenths,  and 
other  portions,  added  thereto  for  special  observ- 
ances under  that  dispensation  ;  and  so,  from 
these  facts,  we  must  get  the  idea,  that  we  cer- 
tainly can  not,  must  not,  under  any  circum- 
stances, think  of  giving  any  less  than  one-tenth, 
the  least  that  ever  was  given  by  God's  people; 
and,  the  natural  inference  is,  that,  while  as  by 
the  law  of  Moses,  the  amount  given  was  increased 
and  was  given  to  the  objects  peculiar  to  that 
dispensation,  so  likewise  now  the  amount  ought 
really    to   be   increased,    and    given    to   those 


112  Church  Finance. 

objects  peculiar  to  this  dispensation,  and  so 
urgently  calling  for  our  contributions,  and  so 
essential  to  the  glory  and  honor  of  God  and 
his  cause. 


TWENTY-  THIRD  POINT:— The  objections  urged 
against  the  tithe  system,  as  applied  to  Christians, 
are  not  valid,  or  conclusive. 

But  brief  notice  can  be  taken  here  of  the 
chief  of  these  objections.  They  are  such  as 
follow.  The  good  divine  even,  to  whom  allu- 
sion has  already  been  made,  who  was  asked  to 
express  himself  on  the  subject  through  the 
press,  and  "  hesitated,"  fearing  his  "  ortho- 
doxy "  might  be  called  into  question,  did 
finally  express  his  views  and  urge  such  objec- 
tions as  these: 

1.  It  is  said  by  the  objector.  Why,  part  of  the 
tithes  of  the  Hebrews  was  given  to  support  the 
Levites  who  got  no  share  of  the  inheritance, 
etc. ;  another  part  was  given  for  certain  feasts ; 
and  then,  when  the  children  of  Israel  entered 
the  promised  land  their  condition  was  so  pros- 
perous and  favorable  for  liberal  giving.  Answer: 
Whatever  "  other  "  claims  the  Levitical  priest- 


Measure  of  Giving.  113 

hood  had  for  receiving  tithes,  the  tithe, 
according  to  God's  Word,  was  given  to  them 
more  particularly  because  they  were  God's 
special  servants,  religious  officers,  and  teachers. 
It  was  "for  their  service  which  they  served, 
even  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation." And  there  are  substantially  such 
special  servants  of  God  to-day  to  receive 
tithes. 

Besides,  when  "  Abraham  "  paid  tithes  it  was 
to  another  "order"  of  priesthood  altogether, 
who  had  no  such  special  claims  as  the  objector 
urges  in  favor  of  the  Levites ;  and  when  Jacob 
paid  his  tithes  it  was  not  for  any  order  of 
priesthood  at  all — the  mysterious  Melchisedec 
had  vanished,  and  the  Levitical  order  was  "yet 
in  the  loins  of  Abraham." 

As  to  part  of  the  Hebrew  tithes  being  given 
for  "  certain  feasts,"  it  need  merely  be  said, 
that  that  was  not  the  case  with  the  tithes  of 
Abraham  and  Jacob;  and  that,  at  all  events, 
all  those  feasts  were  God- appointed,  and  God- 
honoring,  were  intended  to  mark  the  Hebrews 
as  God's  peculiar  people;  they  pertained  to 
their  religion,  whatever  else  may  be  said  of 
8 


114  Church  Fiuauce. 

them.  The  command  concerning  them  makes 
this  clear,  for,  thus  it  reads:  ''  Thou  shalt  eat 
it  before  the  Lord  thy  God.  *  *  *  *  That 
thou  mayest  learn  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God 
always.'' 

As  to  the  prosperous  and  favorable  condition 
of  the  Hebrews  when  they  entered  the  prom- 
ised land,  and  received  the  Mosaic  law,  it  need 
only  be  said  that  they  were  not  always  just 
entering  the  promised  land — they  were  not 
always  in  a  prosperous  condition;  but  they 
always  had  to  pay  the  tithes,  pros})erous  or  not. 
Besides,  when  Abraham  paid  his  tithes  he  was 
not  yet  in  a  prosperous  or  independent  condi- 
tion; on  the  contrary,  he  was  "a  stranger  and 
a  pilgrim  in  the  land."  God  had  as  yet  given 
him  "none  inheritance  in  it;  no,  not  so  much 
as  to  set  his  foot  on." 

By  no  reasoning,  or  jugglery,  can  these  facts 
be  made  to  disappear  from  the  records. 

2.  It  is  said  again  by  the  objector,  that 
giving  should  be  "  free,  willing,  without 
restraint,"  each  one  ought  to  decide  for  himself 
how  much  he  will  give  to  the  Lord.  Answer: 
Folly.       Apply   the    same    argument    to    the 


Measure  of  Giving.  115 

Sabbath — the  amount  of  timr^to  bo  givon  to  the 
Lord — and  boo  to  what  it  will  lead.  Say:  the 
ccjnsecration  of  time  must  he  free,  willing; 
there  must  }>o  no  restraint  of  law,  each  one 
must  decide  for  himself  just  how  much  he  will 
give,  wliether  one-seventh,  one-tenth,  one- 
twentieth,  all,  or  none.  Who  would  talk  so 
foolishly?  J3ut  it  is  no  more  foolish  than  the 
other.  It  would  not  do  to  leave  it  wholly  to 
every  person's  choice  as  to  how  much  time  he 
will  give  to  God;  no  more  will  it  do  U)  leave  it 
to  their  mvn  choice,  without  the  direction  of 
law,  as  to  the  amf>unt  of  income  that  they  are 
to  give  to  him.  This  "free,"  "go-as-you-please" 
without  rule  in  giving,  may  be  very  pleasing  to 
many — especially  to  those  who  do  not  please  to 
give  much — but  it  meets  not  the  demands  of 
God's  Book,  nor  of  common  sense  either.  But 
we  also  irjsist  that  giving  sh?ill  be  free  and 
willing,  and  really,  to  go  by  the  true  rule  of 
tithing,  by  no  means  takes  away  the  freeness 
and  willingness  of  the  act  of  giving,  but  rather 
promotes  it.  No  doubt  the  freest,  most  willing 
and  joyful  givers  to-day,  are  those  who  have 
adopted  the  tithe  theory.  Experience  and 
observation  prove  it. 


116  Church  Finance. 

3.  Again,  the  objector  says,  Why,  all  we  have 
belongs  to  God;  the  tithe  system  assumes  that 
only  a  part  belongs  to  him.  Answer:  The 
tithe  system  assumes  no  such  thing;  at  all 
events  not  as  we  understand  and  teach  it.  Its 
assumption  is,  that  all  means  and  income  is  the 
Lord's,  just  as  all  time,  but  that  a  part  of  it — 
at  least  one-tenth,  just  as  a  part  of  time,  one- 
seventh — is  peculiarly  his,  and  must  in  a  pecu- 
liar sense  be  given  to  him. 

4.  Again,  it  is  said,  Why,  suppose  here  is  one 
man  with  a  large  family,  and  he  gets  but  small 
wages ;  while  there  is  another  with  no  family, 
or  a  small  one,  and  he  gets  very  large  wages; 
now,  is  it  "reasonable"  to  suppose  that  they 
shall  pay  just  the  same  per  cent  of  their  wages 
to  the  Lord's  treasury?  Answer:  If  that  is  a 
valid  objection  to  the  principle  of  tithing  now 
as  applied  to  Christians,  it  was  just  as  valid 
centuries  ago  against  the  same  principle  or 
system  when  applied  to  the  Jews.  If  our  mod- 
ern objectors  had  lived  in  Moses'  time,  would 
they  have  ventured  to  instruct  the  Lord  in  re- 
gard to  what  was  reasonable?  But,  the  ob- 
jection shows  an  utter  misunderstanding  of  the 


Measure  of  Giving.  117 

real  tithe  system;  for,  that  system  merely 
makes  one-tenth  the  lowest  amount  to  be  given 
under  any  circumstances,  the  man  with  the 
large  family  and  but  small  w^ages  should  give 
that  much,  but,  as  there  were  free-will  offer- 
ings under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  so  now, 
where  circumstances  will  permit  it,  more,  much 
more  ought  to  be  given ;  the  man  with  no  family, 
or  a  small  one,  and  with  a  large  salary,  ought 
perhaps  to  give  very  much  more  than  one-tenth. 
That  is  the  theory  and  the  practice  of  the 
"tithers."  When  Dr.  C.  C.  Beatty,  e.  g.,  to 
whom  reference  was  made  in  another  chapter, 
came  to  be  able  to  afford  it,  having  no  children, 
but  a  large  income,  he  ceased  to  give  but  one- 
tenth,  as  he  had  been  wont,  and  "without  delay, 
excuse,  or  evasion,"  gave  it  all,  except  what 
was  necessary  for  "a  mere  living  and  repairs." 
Might  we  not  here  say,  the  objectors  err,  "  not 
knowing  the  Scriptures,"  nor  the  real  theory  of 
Christian  tithing  which  they  assume  to  criticise  ? 
5.  Again  it  is  sometimes  said  that  the  tithe 
system  tends  to  legalism  and  to  foster  a  feeling 
of  self-satisfaction  when  the  one-tenth  is  paid. 
Answer:  Let   such  thoughts  be  considered  by 


118  Church  Finance. 

the  giver,  as  we  liave  urged  concerning  Jesus 
looking  at  the  heart  as  well  as  at  the  treasury^ 
and  concerning  the  motives  and  manner  of 
giving,  and  there  will  be  no  such  tendency.  I 
answ-er  again,  that,  just  as  the  previous  objec- 
tion, this  one  is  based  on  an  entirely  false  as- 
sumption as  to  what  the  tithe  system  really  is; 
and  the  latter  part  of  our  answer  to  the  pre- 
vious objection  applies  also  to  this.  AYe  say 
one-tenth  is  the  least  amount  for  any  to  give, 
that  even  those  who  give  all  should  say:  'Sve 
are  unprofitable  servants;"  and: 

"  We  give  thee  but  thine  own, 

Whate'er  the  gift  may  be: 
All  that  Ave  have  is  thine  alone, 

A  trust,  O  God!  from  thee." 

No  one  can  get  any  food  for  legalism  or  self- 
satisfaction  from  us. 

6.  And  once  more  it  is  said,  the  tenth  is  not 
named  in  the  New  Testament,  neither  by 
Christ  nor  his  Apostles.  Answer :  First,  Christ 
in  addressing  those  who  prided  themselves  on 
tithing  everything  so  exactly,  said:  "These 
ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to  have  left  the 
of  er  undone."  So  Christ  really  did  sanction 
tithing,  in  a  positive  way,  after  all. 


Measure  of  Giving.  119 

But  neither  he  nor  his  Apostles  needed  di- 
rectly to  recommend  tithing ;  the  law  laid  down 
in  former  dispensations  had  been  practiced  from 
the  beginning,  and  the  great  reason  for  tithing, 
viz. :  The  honoring  of  God,  still  remaining,  it 
was  to  abide,  without  any  re-enactment,  accord- 
ing to  the  general  maxim  that,  as  long  as  the 
reason  for  a  law  remains  the  law  is  to  remain. 

On  the  same  principle  the  general  law  of 
the  Sabbath  remains,  yet  it  was  no  more  di- 
rectly or  positively  recommended,  by  Christ  or 
his  Apostles,  than  that  of  tithing. 

That  Paul  recommended  the  Corinthians,  on 
a  certain  occasion,  to  give  "  as  God  has  pros- 
pered them,"  and  did  not  say,  give  one-tenth, 
is  by  no  means  evidence  that  he  did  not  sanc- 
tion the  tithe  system  as  still  binding;  for,  "  as 
God  hath  prospered,"  falls  in  with  the  tithe 
idea  exactly.  And  it  should  also  be  remem- 
bered that  he  was  then  pleading  for  a  "  special 
collection  " — it  was  rather  for  the  "  free-will 
offerings  "  of  the  Corinthians,  something  above 
the  mere  tithe,  that  he  was  then  asking.  And, 
besides,  he  was  then  giving  a  recommendatioD 
more  especially  as  to  the  time  of  giving,  rather 


120  Church  Finance. 

than  as  to  tlie  amount.  Moreover,  it  may  be 
noticed  here,  that,  not  only  was  it  "  not 
required  that  a  tenth  should  be  named  in  the 
New  Testament,  as  that  proportion  was  already 
fixed  in  the  Old;"  but,  " from  what  we  know 
of  the  liberality  of  the  early  Christians — in 
some  instances  giving  away  their  all,  in  others 
'  out  of  a  deep  poverty  abounding  in  liberality, 
to  their  power,  yea,  and  beyond  their  power, 
being  willing  of  themselves  ' — we  should  not 
expect  that  the  proportion  of  at  least  a  tenth 
would  be  urged  upon  them  as  a  duty,  when,  in 
all  probability,  few  of  them  were  satisfied  with 
that  proportion,  but  gave  much  more." 

In  support  of  Christian  tithing  there  are 
many 

"  Confirmations  strong  as  proofs  of  Holy  Writ," 

while  the  objections  are  but 

"  Trifles  light  as  air." 
Oh,  if  this  Bible  law  were  only  respected 
and  acted  on  by  the  masses  of  Christians  !  If 
only  "  every  one "  would  give,  not  a  mere 
trifle,  but  "  as  God  hath  prospered  him."  never 
less  than  one-tenth  and  more  when  circum- 
stances will  permit,  what  a  change  there  would 


Measure  of  Giving.  121 

be  ?  The  treasury  of  the  Lord  would  be  filled 
— there  would  be  no  lack  of  funds  for  the  cause 
at  home  or  abroad,  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
would  be  greatly  built  up.  Truly,  "  it  would 
change  the  whole  aspect  of  the  church  and 
the  world.  The  discovery  of  the  law  of  grav- 
itation did  not  produce  a  greater  change  in  the 
philosophy  of  the  world  than  obedience  to  this 
simple  rule  would  produce  in  the  moral  condi- 
tion of  the  world.  The  discovery  of  steam 
with  all  its  wondrous  powers  and  extraordinary 
effects  and  unexpected  changes,  would  not 
match  the  results  of  this  simple  principle, 
were  it  only  carried  out  into  the  conduct  of 
professing  Christians." 


CHAPTEE    X. 


BOBBING  GOD.      THREATENINGS  AND  PROMISES. 


TWENTY-FOURTH  POINT:— To  ivithhold  from  the 
Lord's  treasury  the  x>roportion  of  income  due 
unto  him  is  to  commit  robbery — is  to  rob  God. 

This  is  a  severe  charge,  but  it  is  a  Scriptural 
indictment.  If  men  count  it  a  small  thing  to 
withhold  from  God  their  gifts  and  offerings 
which  he  claims  from  them,  they  are  making 
light  of  what  is  with  God  a  serious  matter. 
When  a  man,  like  the  "  rich  fool "  of  the  par- 
able, receives  blessings  from  God,  but  speaks 
of  them  all  as  "  my  goods,"  and  "  my  fruits," 
and  stores  them  all  away  for  himself,  giving 
not  God  his  share  of  the  increase,  he  is  rob- 
bing God.  God  demands,  and  has  a  right  to, 
at  least  the  tenth  of  every  one's  income.  He 
is  not  satisfied  with  anything  less.  He  looks 
upon  all  who  withhold  his  share  as  thieves 
and  robbers.  Christians  who  rent  farms  from 
122 


Threatening s  and  Promises.  123 

their  neighbors,  promising  to  give  the  owners 
one-third  of  the  fruits  and  grain,  would  not  be 
respected  if  they  should  keep,  or  steal,  the 
owner's  third;  and  a  man  with  common  hon- 
esty would  give  to  the  owner  of  the  farm  the 
exact  amount  due  him  according  to  the  condi- 
tions of  the  contract.  Now,  when  God  gives 
his  stewards  so  much  property,  or  means  of 
any  kind,  it  is  always  conditioned  by  him  that 
the  recipient  is  to  pay  back  to  him  a  propor- 
tion of  the  income,  not  less  than  one-tenth, 
and  more  under  favorable  circumstances;  and 
the  Christian  recipient, — aye,  any  recipient. 
Christian  or  not — has  no  more  right  to  keep 
the  Lord's  portion  for  himself  than  he  would 
have  to  withhold  the  part  of  the  grain  or  fruit 
belonging  to  the  owner  of  the  farm  which  he 
rents.  And,  it  should  be  remembered  here, 
that  it  is  at  least  one-tenth  of  the  whole 
income  that  is  the  Lord's,  not  one -tenth  after 
living,  etc.,  is  taken  out.  Some  seem  to  think 
that  out  of  their  proceeds  or  income  they  have 
a  right  first  to  take  enough  to  pay  the  ex- 
pense of  living,  etc.,  and  then  from  whatever 
is  left — if,  indeed,  there  should  be   any  left  at 


124  Church  Finance. 

all — they  think  they  may  give  a  portion, 
and  that  is  all  that  is  required  of  them. 
What  farmer  would  rent  his  farm  on  the  con- 
ditions that  the  renter  was  first  to  keep  of  the 
products  enough  to  pay  his  expenses  of  living, 
etc.,  and  then  need  simply  divide  with  him 
what  remains,  if  there  be  any  remainder? 
That  is  not  God's  way,  either.  For  persons  to 
treat  him  so  is  simply  robbing  him.  The  first 
fruits  are  to  be  the  Lord's.  Nothing  more 
ought  to  be  needed  to  confirm  this  point  than 
that  one  passage  in  which  Malachi,  speaking  in 
God's  name,  says:  "Will  a  man  rob  God? 
Yet  ye  bave  robbed  me.  But  ye  say,  wherein 
have  we  robbed  thee?  In  tithes  and  offerings. 
*  *  *  Ye  have  robbed  me,  even  this  whole 
nation." 

God  ought  always  to  be  given  his  portion; 
his  claims  ought  always  to  be  met  first,  and 
with  the  best  of  all.  As  the  Kev.  I.  W.  Coch- 
ran says: 

"  First  fruits  for  God— of  corn  and  vine; 
Of  tree  or  bush;  of  sheep  or  kine; 
Of  all  that  meu  call  mine  aud  thine — 
The  first  and  best  for  God  ! 


Threaienings  and  Promises.  125 

First  fruits  for  God — of  daily  toil ; 
What  hands  have  gathered  from  the  soil, 
Or  braius  have  wrought  by  midnight  oil — 
The  first  and  best  for  God  ! 

First  fruits  for  God — from  stores  and  trade, 
From  ships  and  railroads  lending  aid, 
From  all  that  factories  have  made— 
The  first  and  best  for  God  ! 

First  fruits  for  God — He  gives  us  all; 
The  sun  to  shine,  the  rain  to  fall; 
He  safely  guides  this  rolling  ball — 
The  first  and  best  for  God  ! 

First  fruits  for  God — He  loved  us  first; 
Gave  the  best  unto  the  worst. 
His  only  Son  for  men  accursed — 
The  first  and  best  for  God  ! 

First  fruits  for  God— He  is  the  first. 
To  Father,  Son  and  Spirit — burst 
Praise  from  the  whole  great  universe — 
The  first  and  best  for  God  ! " 


126  Church  Finance. 

TWENTY-FIFTH  POINT  :—l7i  God's  Word  there  are 
terrible  threatenings  against  those  who  rob 
him,  ivithholding  his  portion  of  their  income; 
but  on  the  other  hand  there  are  precious 
promises,  promises  of  blessing  both  temporal 
and  spiritual  to  those  ivho  lightly  '%onor  him 
ivith  their  substance." 

Mr.  Thomas  Kane  of  Chicago,  has  given 
special  attention,  in  his  tracts,  to  the  consider- 
ation of  the  temporal  blessings  promised  and 
received,  for  the  faithful  honoring  of  God  by 
giving  regularly  to  his  cause,  according  to  the 
Scriptural  law  of  the  tibhe.  In  addition  to 
showing  what  the  Scriptures  say  in  regard  to 
the  matter,  he  has  adopted  a  very  practical  and 
simple  method  of  proving  that  just  as  the 
Scriptures  promise,  so  it  comes  to  pass — that 
the  temporal  blessings  follow  the  faithful 
giving.  Let  his  own  words  here  explain  his 
method  of  proof;  "  During  the  last  six  years 
circulars  have  been  sent  out  to  at  least  three- 
fourths  of  al]  evangelical  ministers  in  the 
United  States,  in  all  of  which  was  the  follow- 
ing statement  and  question :  '  My  belief  is 
that  God  blesses  in  temporal  as  well  as  in 
spiritual  things  the  man  who  honors  him  by 


Threatenings  and  Promises.  127 

setting  apart  a  stated  portion  of  his  income  to 
his  service.  I  have  never  known  an  exception. 
Have  you?'  The  same  question  has  been  asked 
of  many  of  these  ministers  two,  and  even  three 
times.  Several  little  pamphlets  have  been 
carefully  distributed  by  these  ministers  among 
more  than  two  million  laymen,  and  in  every 
one  of  these  pamphlets  the  same  statement  is 
made  and  the  same  question  asked.  Many 
hundreds,  perhaps,  thousands,  have  replied, 
and  not  a  single  authentic  exception  has  been 
given."  That  ought  to  be  accepted  as  the  best 
kind  of  testimony  in  favor  of  the  proposition. 
Should  an  exceptional  case  be  found  to  the 
general  rule  it  ought  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for 
"there  are  exceptions  to  all  rules,"  it  is  said, 
but  there  seems  to  be  scarcely  an  exception  to 
this  one.  Undeniably,  God's  Word  contains 
threatenings  against  withholding  his  portion 
from  him,  and  promises  blessings  both  temporal 
and  spiritual  to  those  who  give  unto  him  ac- 
cording to  his  requirements;  and  observation 
and  history  prove  that  his  word  is  faithful  and 
true.  For  example,  he  says:  "There  is  that 
withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  but  it  tendeth 


128  Church  Finance. 

to  poverty."  "Ye  are  cursed  with  a  curse,  for 
ye  liave  robbed  me."  "  There  is  that  scatter eth 
and  yet  increaseth."  "  The  liberal  soul  shall 
be  made  fat,  and  he  that  watereth  shall  be 
watered  also  himself."  "Honor  the  Lord  with 
thy  substance  and  with  the  first  fruits  of  all 
thine  increase;  so  shall  thy  barns  be  filled  with 
plenty  and  thy  presses  shall  burst  out  with  new 
wine."  "Give  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you; 
good  measure,  pressed  down,  and  shaken  to- 
gether, and  running  over  *  *  *  for  with 
the  same  measure  that  ye  mete  withal  it  shall 
be  measured  to  you  again."  "  The  liberal 
deviseth  liberal  things  and  by  liberal  things 
shall  he  stand." 

As  one  has  well  said:  "  It  is  a  fact  of  the 
highest  importance  in  connection  with  the 
Jewish  church,  that  so  long  as  the  tithes  were 
faithfully  paid,  the  nation  enjoyed  a  degree  of 
prosperity  hitherto  unknown.  Her  temple  was 
thronged  with  devout  worshipers,  her  armies 
triumphed  over  every  foe,  and  her  power  was 
everywhere  respected.  But  there  came  a  time 
in  her  history,  when  covetousness  took  the  place 
of  liberality,   when  her  worship  was  despised, 


Threatenings  and  Promises.  129 

and  when  the  temple  was  neglected  for  the 
idolatrous  practices  and  pleasures  of  her 
heathen  neighbors.  Then  it  was  that  the 
nation,  diseased  at  heart,  was  rent  by  internal 
strifes,  her  armies  fled  before  her  enemies,  and 
her  deserted  temples  resounded  with  the  tread 
of  infidel  feet." 

And,  be  it  remembered,  the  great  principles 
of  the  Divine  Government  are  "  the  same  yes- 
terday, to-day,  and  forever."  Whatsoever 
things  were  written  aforetime,  in  the  volume  of 
The  Book,  and  on  the  pages  of  history,  were 
written  for  our  learning.  Of  all  the  threaten- 
ings against  those  who  withhold  their  offerings 
and  rob  the  Almighty,  and  of  all  the  promises 
to  those  who  honor  him,  and  bring  their  tithes 
unto  the  treasury — of  all  these,  as  of  all  other 
threatenings  and  promises,  we  may  say:  "Hath 
he  spoken  and  shall  he  not  do  it?  He  is  not 
a  man  that  he  should  lie,  nor  the  son  of  man 
that  he  should  repent." 

"He  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear." 
Oh!  Israel  of  to-day!     So  prone  to  "  covetous- 
ness  which  is  idolatry,"  your  finances  all  de- 
ranged, and  God's  cause  at  home  and  abroad 
9 


130  Church  Finance. 

suffering  for  lack  of  funds,  hear,  and  remem- 
ber, "  The  Lord  thy  God  is  a  jealous  God!  " 
He  will  not  endure  thee  if  thou  bow  down  to  a 
golden  calf ;  or  if  thy  people  take  the  gold,  and 
the  silver,  and  all  the  goodly  articles  and  hide 
them  among  their  own  stuff  in  the  midst  of 
their  dwellings!  If  ye  commit  a  trespass  in 
the  accursed  thing,  robbing  God  of  his  por- 
tion, and  leaving  his  cause  to  suffer,  then  the 
anger  of  the  Lord  will  surely  be  enkindled 
against  you,  and  ye  will  be  cursed  with  a  curse ! 
"Ichabod"  will  be  written  upon  thy  temples, 
and  ye  shall  become  a  desolation,  a  reproach, 
and  a  by-word,  "  Everyone  that  passeth  by  shall 
hiss  and  Avag  his  hand!"  But  bring,  O!  Israel, 
"bring  thy  tithes  into  the  storehouse,"  then  the 
hand  of  the  Lord,  thy  God,  will  be  upon  thee  for 
good,  from  that  day  he  will  bless  and  prosper 
thee;"  yea,  he  will  " open  the  windows  of  heaven 
and  pour  you  out  a  blessing  that  there  shall 
not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it."  He  "will  re- 
buke the  devourer  for  your  sakes,  and  he  shall 
not  destroy  the  fruits  of  your  ground,  neither 
shall  your  vine  cast  her  fruit  before  the  time 
in  the   field;    and  all  nations    shall    call    you 


Threaienings  and  Promises.  131 

blessed,  for  ye  shall  be  a  delightsome  land, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  Properly  honor  "the 
Lord  with  thy  substance  and  the  first  fruits  of 
all  thine  increase,"  then  shall  thy  God  be  glori- 
fied in  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  made  to  shout 
for  joy;  the  light  of  God's  countenance  shall 
shine  upon  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  beautified 
and  enlarged,  thy  cords  shall  be  lengthened 
and  thy  stakes  strengthened;  yea,  the  "wilder- 
ness and  solitary  place  shall  be  glad  for  thee, 
and  the  desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the 
rose;  it  shall  blossom  abundantly  and  rejoice 
even  with  joy  and  singing;  the  glory  of  Le- 
banon shall  be  given  unto  it,  the  excellency  of 
Carmel  and  Sharon ;  they  shall  see  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  and  the  excellency  of  our  God." 
Fully  consecrate  yourselves  and  your  posses- 
sions, to  your  God  and  his  service,  Oh,  ye  ran- 
somed of  the  Lord,  then  Zion  will  be  made  to 
rejoice  at  home  and  missions  to  prosper 
abroad;  that  happy  day  will  be  brought  for- 
ward when  "the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  shall 
cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  do  the  sea,"  and 
when    "  the    kingdoms    of    this    world    shall 


132  Church  Finance. 

become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ." 

"  Oh,  Father,  haste  the  promised  hour, 

When  at  His  feet  shall  lie 
All  rule,  authority,  and  power, 

Beneath  the  ample  sky; 
When  He  shall  reign  from  pole  to  pole 

The  Lord  of  every  human  soul." 

^^ Now  unto  the  King  Eternal,  immortal,  invisible,  the 
only  wise  God,  he  honor  and  glory  for  ever  and  ever. — 
Amen." 


Extracts  of  Testimonials 

Concerning    this    work,   from    representa- 
tives  of  different  denominations, 
who  read  the  manuscript. 


From  the  Rev.  Anson  Smyth,  D.  D.,  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
Acting  Secretary  of  the  General  Assembly's  Committee 
on  Systematic  Beneficence:  "I  know  of  nothing  upon 
Christian  beneficence  so  well  adapted  to  promote  the 
performance  of  duty  in  regard  to  this  subject.  I  sincerely 
wish  that  it  might  be  read  by  every  Presbyterian,  and  by 
others,  everywhere." 

From  the  Rev.  Wm.  M.  Taylor,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  pastor  of 
the  Broadway  Congregational  Tabernacle,  New  York 
City:  "  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  peruse  your  treat- 
ise, I  think  that  the  points  are,  in  the  main,  well  taken 
and  ably  presented.  *  *  *  I  agree  with  you  save  in  one 
point,  and  that  is  the  emphasizing  as  a  duty  the  giving  of 
at  least  a  tithe.  *  *  *  It  is  not  a  tenth  part,  or  any 
fraction  that  belongs  to  God  in  the  Christian  sense;  it  is 
all  his,  and  the  behever  is  a  steward  for  it  all  *  *  and 
is  under  obligation  to  manage  it  all  for  God." 

From  Thomas  Kane,  Esq.,  Chicago,  111.,  member  of 
the  General  Assembly's  Committee  on  Systematic  Ben- 
eficence, and  author  of  "  What  We  Owe  "  and  other  tracts: 
"  I  have  read  it  with  great  interest,  and  heartily  com- 
mend it.  Naturally  my  commendation  would  be  strong- 
est of  those  chapters  endorsing  the  tithe  system,  and  this, 
too,  not  as  might  be  supposed  because  I  am  an  extreme 
advocate  of  that  system,  but  because  it  is  the  only  practi- 
cal business  way  in  which  it  is  possible  to  make  permanent, 
all  day, '  rainy  weather '  givers  of  individual  Christians." 


Extracts  of  Testimonials. 

From  the  Rev.  Chas.  S.  Pomeroy,  D.  D.,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  Chairman  of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly's 
Permanent  Committee  on  Systematic  Beneficence:  "I 
have  examined  with  much  interest  the  treatise  in  manu- 
script of  the  Kev.  A.  T.  Kobertson  entitled  '  Five  Times 
Five  Points  of  Church  Finance.'  As  a  popular  presenta- 
tion of  the  main  principles  of  systematic  and  proportion- 
ate giving,  its  publication  and  wide  distribution  through 
the  church,  would  doubtless  be  of  pronounced  service  to 
the  cause  of  Beneficence,  and  a  welcome  ally  in  the  work 
of  the  Assembly's  Committee." 

From  the  Rev.  R.  Wallace,  Pastor  of  the  Trinity  M.  E. 
Church,  Lima,  Ohio  :  "  I  find  it  the  most  complete  and 
comprehensive  of  any  work,  of  my  observation,  on  the 
subject.  It  is  clear  and  concise  and  cannot  be  contra- 
verted.  I  hope  and  pray  that  it  not  only  may  have  a  wide 
circulation  in  your  own  denomination,  but  in  ours  as  well. 
It  most  certainly  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  ministry 
of  all  churches. 

From  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Marshall,  New  Lisbon,  Ohio, 
Chairman  of  the  Permanent  Committee  on  Systematic 
Beneficence  in  the  Synod  of  Ohio  :  "  It  is  an  important 
contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  church  on  the  sub- 
ject. Pointed,  happy  in  illustration,  cogent  in  reasoning, 
and  Scriptural,  the  reader  follows  the  discussion  with 
unfailing  interest  to  its  close.  I  hope  it  can  be  placed  in 
large  numbers  in  all  the  churches  of  our  Synod." 

From  the  Rev.  S.  F.  Scovel,  D.  D.,  President  of  the 
University  of  Wooster:  "  It  gives  evidence  of  experience, 
observation,  and  familiarity  with  the  literature  of  the 
subject.  *  *  The  clear  and  pointed  style  seems  admi- 
rably adapted  to  the  practical  nature  of  the  theme. 
*    *    *    The  treatise  will  read  easily,  and  will,  I  hope, 


Extracts  of  Testimonials. 

have  many  readers  *  *  *  ^^^  ^jj  ^^  ^^l  the  more 
successful  because  of  the  dash  of  humor  it  contains." 

From  the  Rev,  Wm.  P.  Breed,  D.  D.,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.:  "  It  discusses  in  an  earnest,  effective  and  judicious 
way  a  very  important  subject.  I  think  no  church  mem- 
ber can  read  it  carefully  without  benefit;  and  it  contains 
valuable  suggestions  for  ministers." 

From  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Sfepler,  Pastor  (German)  Keformed 
Church,  Lima,  Ohio:  " Heading  about  one-third  of  the 
work  before  its  pubHcation,  has  only  excited  my  appetite 
to  read  the  whole  as  soon  as  accessible.  I  expect  to 
derive  from  it  positive  benefit  for  my  own  inner  life,  as 
well  as  for  the  work  of  the  Church." 

Fi^om  Prof.  Frank  V.  Irish,  (of  the  Christian,  or,  Disci- 
ple Church)  author  and  lecturer,  Lima,  Ohio:  "Every 
follower  of  Christ  ought  to  read  it.  I  heartily  commend 
it  to  all  Christians." 

From  the  Rev.  James  Fells,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor 
in  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  Cincinnati,  Ohio:  "It  is 
manifestly  written  by  one  in  the  midst  of  a  pastor's  work. 
*  *  For  some  reasons  this  gives  it  the  greater  signifi- 
cance and  interest.  *  *  *  Were  I  pastor  of  a  Church 
I  should  order  a  large  number  of  copies,  confident  that 
it  would  be  very  useful  in  educating  my  people  in  this 
most  important  part  of  Christian  living  and  service." 

From  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Eckhartt,  Pastor  of  Zion's  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Church,  Lima,  Ohio:  "  I  have  read  the 
MS.  of  your  forthcoming  book  with  much  interest.  The 
unsatisfactory  condition  of  Church  treasuries  in  other 
denominations  besides  your  own,  calls  for  just  such  pub- 
lications. May  your  little  book  receive  the  wide  circula- 
tion, the  careful  reading  and  the  prayerful  thought  that 
all  such  works  on  the  subject  of  giving  deserve," 


Extracts  of  Testimonials. 

From  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Wylie,  editor  of  the  Christian 
Gti?er,  New  York  City :  "I  hope  it  may  be  published  in 
such  a  way  as  to  secure  an  immediate  and  wide  circula- 
tion. *  *  I  am  sure  it  would  do  mach  good.  *  *  * 
The  pulpit  needs  to  be  aided  by  the  press  m  this  work." 

From  the  Rev.  D.  B.  Cheney,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  Lima,  Ohio:  "While  you  have  written 
in  the  interest  of  your  own  Church  and  work  *  *  *  * 
yet  your  treatise  is  worthy  of  the  widest  circulation 
among  Christians  of  every  name.  I  wish  it  could  be  read 
by  every  member  of  the  denomination  to  which  I  belong." 

From  the  Rev.  John  H.  She7n^ard,  Pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  Delphos,  Ohio:  "I  have  read  the  MS. 
with  great  and  increasing  interest.  I  am  very  glad  that 
it  is  likely  to  be  published  and  placed  in  a  permanent 
form.  *  *  I  have  never,  I  think,  read  anything  on  the 
subject  so  well  calculated  to  stir  up  the  people,  who  may 
read  it,  to  do  their  whole  duty  in  this  matter." 

From  the  Rev.  Chas.  A.  Dickey,  D.  D.,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.:  "In my  judgment,  you  have  treated  a  very  difficult 
and  most  important  subject  admirably — you  have  handled 
it  with  skill,  have  exhausted  it.  *  *  *  The  principles 
you  present,  fully  sustain  the  practical  suggestions  you 
have  made.  *  *  *  You  have  done  well  to  defend  our 
appointed  agencies  against  the  complaints  of  those  who 
are  always  seeking  apologies  for  not  giving.  I  am  con- 
fident that  the  general  distribution  of  your  excellent  sug- 
gestions would  do  much  towards  creating  a  more  thought- 
ful, systematic  and  sanctified  benevolence.  *  *  *  You 
begin  well  by  turning  attention  to  the  watchful  Master. 
*  *  *  You  end  well  by  holding  up  the  blessings  and 
rewaxds  of  fidelity." 


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